A senior Labour MP has issued a dramatic warning to Downing Street, threatening to resign his seat and trigger a by-election in open defiance of Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to restrict jury trials in England and Wales.
Karl Turner said he was “ashamed” of both the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary over proposals to remove juries from certain criminal cases, describing the plans as unjust, unnecessary and driven by Treasury cost-cutting rather than principle.
The threat marks one of the most serious internal rebellions faced by the Labour government since taking office.
⚖️ A rare threat to force a by-election
Turner, who represents Kingston upon Hull East with a majority of just 3,920, has told party whips he would consider standing down entirely to make a “principled point” against the reforms.
The move would risk handing the seat to Reform UK, which finished second at the last general election. According to projections by Electoral Calculus, a by-election in the seat would give Reform UK a 93 per cent chance of victory.
The last MP to deliberately trigger a by-election on a matter of principle was David Davis, who resigned in 2008 over civil liberties legislation.
🏛️ Breaking the whip for the first time
Turner last week became the sole Labour MP to vote against the government on jury trials, backing a Conservative motion and breaking the whip for the first time since entering Parliament in 2010.
He has made clear he is unconcerned about disciplinary consequences, saying he is “not fearful” of losing the whip if that is the price of opposing what he views as a fundamental erosion of justice.
The proposals, backed by Justice Secretary David Lammy, would remove juries from cases carrying likely sentences of three years or less, while also restricting appeals from magistrates’ courts to crown courts.
🧠 ‘A jury would have treated me fairly’
Turner’s opposition is rooted in personal experience. He has spoken openly about being falsely accused of handling stolen goods in 2002 while working as an antiques dealer in Hull.
He was arrested, charged and remanded in custody before the case ultimately collapsed prior to reaching a jury.
“As a working-class kid from a council estate, a jury would have treated me more fairly than a judge alone,” Turner said, explaining that electing for a jury trial was critical to his defence.
He now argues that removing juries risks embedding bias and undermining public confidence in the justice system.
💷 Treasury pressure and internal anger
Turner has accused the government of pursuing the reforms primarily to save money, claiming the Justice Secretary has “offered up savings to the Treasury” rather than addressing the root causes of court backlogs.
Although Lammy has argued that judge-only trials could cut case times by 20 per cent, Turner insists any savings would be cancelled out by the cost of recruiting and training additional judges.
Around 40 Labour MPs have already signed a letter urging Keir Starmer to abandon the proposals, warning they would do little to fix delays while weakening long-standing legal safeguards.
Turner says colleagues are “seething” and believes the government could face defeat in the Commons if it presses ahead.
📉 A dangerous political gamble
The rebellion comes at a sensitive moment for Labour, with Reform polling strongly in post-industrial seats and positioning itself as the beneficiary of public anger over crime, justice and trust in institutions.
Turner’s threat underlines the scale of unease within Labour’s own ranks, where concerns are growing that technocratic reforms risk alienating core voters and exposing the party to populist challengers.
If carried through, his resignation would mark the first Labour-triggered by-election of the parliament – and a major test of Starmer’s authority.
One response to “Starmer faces revolt as MP threatens resignation”
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Political judges will be making sure that the party line is reinforced and that free speech is silenced. We have seen this already with the two tier sentences handed out by judges. This is part of our democracy.
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