Keir Starmer spent the weekend at Chequers with his family, and by Monday he had changed his mind. He had insisted on Friday that he would fight any leadership contest. Talks with cabinet ministers and with his wife, Victoria, shifted his thinking, and he told the country he would resign as Labour leader.
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Starmer said in an unusually emotional speech in Downing Street. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
His voice cracked as he spoke of the life he plans afterward: being “the best husband I can” to his wife and the best father to his children. He promised an orderly handover and “full and unequivocal support” for his successor. Insiders say he is angry and frustrated about Andy Burnham’s ambitions, and one friend said Starmer would manage the handover through “gritted teeth.”
A short road to Number 10
The Guardian reported that Burnham looks set to take over unopposed. Wes Streeting confirmed he would not challenge him, and no other Labour MP is expected to gather the 81 nominations required. Labour’s national executive committee has been asked to draw up a timetable. Nominations open on 9 July and the contest is meant to wrap up by the summer recess a week later. Burnham could be in Number 10 as early as 16 or 17 July. Whoever wins will be the UK’s seventh prime minister in 10 years.
Burnham, newly elected MP for Makerfield, took the train to Westminster that day. He had left Manchester in a T-shirt and jeans and was sworn in wearing a suit and tie, to cheers from Labour MPs and jokes from the opposition benches. In a statement he thanked Starmer for his service and said: “I will put myself forward as part of this process. The country expects stability, seriousness and a continued focus on the issues that matter most and that is what it will get.” He has not spoken to Starmer since before the Makerfield campaign.
Who is in, and what the markets did
The Guardian understands Burnham will start setting out policy next week with speeches on the economy and devolution. He is weighing Ed Miliband as chancellor, a way to challenge Treasury orthodoxy, though no decision has been made. Sources said he knows business and the unions could object. Shabana Mahmood is expected to stay as home secretary, and Streeting could land a top cabinet job. Some argue he should be chancellor to reassure the markets.
Bond markets were muted on Monday, and the yield on 10-year gilts slipped slightly. Burnham, though, once said the country was “in hock” to bond markets, and his allies say he wants to do more to calm investors. His team has talked to Jim O’Neill, the economist and former Conservative Treasury minister, about serving as chief economic adviser.
An early devolution announcement is possible, and some around him want mayors to be able to set their own business rates. He will stick to Labour’s manifesto but look for places to be bolder. Louise Haigh, who ran his by-election campaign, will lead the transition team alongside Miliband, former minister Miatta Fanbulleh and Josh Simons, the former Makerfield MP who gave up the seat for Burnham.
Starmer loyalists are still hunting for a challenger, and Darren Jones has been mentioned. Sources said he is not organising a run but stopped short of a flat denial. Nigel Farage was the only opposition leader to call for a general election, saying the UK could not afford to “waste another week drifting from crisis to crisis.” Burnham has signalled he will not go that way.
