Sir Keir Starmer will not quit following Anas Sarwar’s call for him to resign, Downing Street has said.

A spokesman insisted the Prime Minister "has a clear five-year mandate" from the British people to "deliver change, and that is what he will do".

Mr Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader, said the “distraction” in Downing Street needs to end as he called for Sir Keir to stand down.

He told a press conference that his first priority was to Scotland and that he did not want to “sacrifice” the country to a third decade of an SNP government.

He said: "That’s why the distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.

“It is so obvious that we desperately need change in Scotland and in three months' time, the opportunity to get rid of a failing SNP Government is one that is too important to be missed.

“We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland, because the election in May is not without consequence for the lives of Scots.”

Sir Keir is facing a daunting battle to save his premiership, with his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US prompting Labour MPs to openly question his judgement and political future.

When resigning as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney said he took “full responsibility” for giving Sir Keir advice that resulted in the “wrong” appointment.

But a growing number of critics have highlighted that Sir Keir made the final decision knowing that Lord Mandelson’s links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein continued after the financier’s conviction for child sex offences.