Business secretary Peter Kyle would not say what Keir Starmer planned to do. He did not have to. “I don’t want to come on here and be delusional that there is no process, there are no forces at work which are challenging the prime minister as leader,” Kyle told the BBC on Sunday. “That is clearly the case.”
By the end of that weekend, Labour expected Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure on Monday. The Observer reported on Saturday that he had decided his position was no longer tenable after talking to cabinet ministers, advisers, donors and trade union leaders. It said he was weighing the decision with his wife at Chequers.
Burnham’s by-election win
The trigger was Thursday’s Makerfield by-election. Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, won it with a majority above 9,000 and more than 50% of the vote, beating Reform. His team then believed about 200 Labour MPs, roughly half the parliamentary party, were behind him, and the number has grown since. Allies hope for a handover without a contest.
Starmer had said he would fight any challenge. Downing Street repeated that line on Sunday. But a government source told the Guardian to expect “some sort of timetable for departure, most likely around the autumn.” On Friday, ministers who had been loyal told him to settle the matter by the end of the weekend or risk being pushed out, with an intervention at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting likely. Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper was reported by Sky News to have urged him privately to stand down, and the BBC said transport secretary Heidi Alexander suggested he consider setting a date.
A Labour source quoted online said Starmer felt “betrayed,” especially by people he thought were loyal.
Trump weighs in
Donald Trump added to the pressure on Sunday. In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote that Starmer “will resign” and that “he failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well!” The Guardian said the two men fell out over Starmer’s refusal to join the US-Israel war on Iran as fully as Trump wanted.
Labour divided on the process
MPs argued in public over what should come next. Barry Gardiner said he did not want a contest but wanted Starmer “able to go with dignity.” Jess Phillips, who left the government in May, said candidates should at least put their ideas to the parliamentary party. John Slinger called a Burnham takeover a “farce.”
Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month, has said he will seek the top job and claims enough backers. Allies of Starmer and Burnham doubt it. A contest needs support from 20% of the parliamentary party, or 81 MPs.
Polling added to the mood. A YouGov survey of 800 Labour members for the National Education Union, taken before the by-election, found 45% backing Burnham as prime minister against 24% for Starmer, 7% for Angela Rayner and 4% for Streeting. If Starmer goes, the UK will have its seventh prime minister in 10 years, only two years after Labour won a majority of 174 seats.
Sources
- Starmer expected to announce departure on Monday as growing numbers of MPs back Burnham for PM – as it happened
- UK PM Keir Starmer expected to announce resignation on Monday: Report
- Keir Starmer expected to announce departure as prime minister on Monday
