Red Wall Labour MPs are demanding ministers “act now before it’s too late” and reverse the unpopular cut to winter fuel payments.

A number of MPs in the Red Wall – the term used to describe Labour’s traditional heartlands in the north of England – reposted a statement on social media in which they said the leadership’s response to the local elections had “fallen on deaf ears”.

They singled out the cut to the winter fuel allowance as an issue that was raised on the doorstep and urged the government to rethink the policy, arguing that doing so “isn’t weak, it takes us to a position of strength”.

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The group, thought to number about 40 MPs, met last night following the fallout of local election results in England, which saw Labour narrowly lose the Runcorn by-election, as well as control of Doncaster Council, to Reform.

In addition, Nigel Farage’s party picked up more than 650 councillors and won control of 10 councils in Labour strongholds such as Durham.

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Although Labour narrowly held on to mayoralties in Doncaster and the West of England, it lost control of Doncaster Council – the only local authority it had control of in this set of elections – to Mr Farage’s party, which also gained its own mayors in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire.

The MPs said the poll was the “big test for the prime minister” but that the party’s voters had “told us loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations”.

Following the results, Sir Keir Starmer said the message he was taking away from the results was that “we must deliver that change even more quickly. We must go even further.”

His response has drawn an angry reaction from some Labour MPs who believe it amounted to ignoring voters’ concerns.

One of the MPs who was present at last night’s meeting told Sky News there was “lots of anger at the government’s response to the results”.

“People acknowledged the winter fuel allowance was the main issue for us on the doorstep. There is a lack of vision from this government, and residents don’t see it.”

Another added: “Everyone was furious”.

Elsewhere in the statement, the MPs urged the party leadership to “visit our areas, listen and rebuild the social contract between government and the people”.

“The prime minister has shown strong leadership internationally, which must now be matched at home,” the statement read.

“The demands raised by new MPs from post-industrial towns where infrastructure is poor, with years of underinvestment, must be taken off the too-difficult-to-do list. Breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy, otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need.”

It added: “The government needs to improve its messaging by telling our story and articulating our values in the language that resonates and is heard.

“Labour cannot afford to lose the Red Wall again as it reopens the route to a future of opposition and an existential crisis. Without red wall communities, we are not the Labour Party.

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“The government has to act now before it’s too late.”

The government has also drawn criticism for the winter fuel policy from outside Westminster.

On Tuesday, Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan called for the cuts to winter fuel allowance to be reviewed in a landmark speech.

However, Downing Street has ruled out a U-turn on means testing the winter fuel payment.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The policy is set out, there will not be a change to the government’s policy.”

They added that the decision was necessary “to ensure economic stability and repair the public finances following the £22bn black hole left by the previous government”.