Keir Starmer in 'dead trouble' as he scrambles to bring back Gordon Brown amid mounting resignation pressure, says Andrew Marr

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister from 2007-2010, has been brought back into Downing Street to serve as the PM's Special Envoy on Global Finance. Dame Harriet Harman will advise the Government on Women and Girls.

"These two moves tell you that Keir Starmer is in dead trouble. These are defensive moves by somebody who feels besieged," said Marr.

Both Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown are "influential" figures in the Labour Party who are "much looked to, much listened to," he added.

"If either of them came out against Keir Starmer this weekend, he'd be done. This is a bind them in move."

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The appointments of Brown and Harman come as the PM launches a reset of his embattled premiership as he faces mounting pressure to resign.

Sir Keir has promised "he would set out the next steps in his plan to build a stronger and fairer Britain in the coming days".

Asked about his decision to bring back “blasts from the past”, Sir Keir said: "It’s very future-looking, because this is about making sure that every woman has the opportunities that she deserves. And so Harriet will lead on that work, working with the Cabinet, working with the team.

“For Gordon obviously, one of the big challenges we face is global finance. The war in Iran is causing real problems, economic impact.

“We need more spending on defence and security, that needs to come together around international mechanisms and Gordon’s got a track record on that, and so that is building the strong economy of the future."

At least 30 Labour MPs so far have broken ranks to call for Sir Keir to resign following a disastrous night for the party which saw it lose control of 37 local authorities and 1,300 councillors.

Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, told LBC: "It's been an absolute disaster and the defeat of every hard working Labour candidate has Keir Starmer's name written all over it."

He continued: "They didn't lose because of their record, they lost because of Keir Starmer and the mistakes the government has made."He needs to take responsibility for all that and that's why he needs to recognise that this was his last Election as Labour leader. "

Veteran Labour MP Clive Betts said the Cabinet should make it clear to Sir Keir Starmer he has to go “in the not too distant future”.

The public had “stopped listening” to the Prime Minister, the MP for Sheffield South East said, adding: “I think there’s now a responsibility on the Cabinet to talk to Keir and to recognise, as they obviously are picking up on the doorstep, that this can’t carry on forever."

Labour MP Catherine McKinnell stopped short of explicitly calling on Sir Keir to resign, but said the party must "urgently change", as she said the public voted on "national issues".

Marr added that Gordon Brown "has, in my view, been the best ex Prime Minister we've ever had.

"He's done some fantastic work digging into the Epstein files. He's done a lot of work on poverty in the uk. He has real moral authority."

In her new role Dame Harman will advise the PM on how to"galvanise Government to deliver for women and girls".

Downing Street said Sir Keir has committed to boosting the country’s security and resilience and "in this role, Gordon Brown will advise on how global finance cooperation can help to achieve this".

In an op-ed published in the Guardian today, Sir Keir sought to ward off the growing number of his own MPs calling for his resignation, warning the party against "tacking right or left" following the disastrous set of results.