CABINET Ministers are piling pressure on PM Sir Keir Starmer to stand down after Andy Burnham’s by-election triumph paved the way for his speedy “coronation”.
The aspiring Prime Minister, who comfortably defeated Reform in Makerfield, is pushing for a bloodless transition rather than pulling the trigger on a leadership coup.
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Andy Burnham’s win at the Makerfield by-election has paved the way for a Labour leadership battle Credit: AFP
PM Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure from his own MPs to quit his position
His return to Westminster unleashed a flood of supportive Labour MPs demanding Sir Keir set out a timetable to quit so he could hand over the reins.
The PM has publicly vowed to fight on and was yesterday holed up in Downing Street trying to shore up his top team.
However, several of his Cabinet members have now lost faith and believe he should throw in the towel with dignity.
A senior Labour MP said: “The Cabinet is reading the Prime Minister his last rites. They know the game is up.”
READ MORE ON KEIR STARMER
GATHERING STARM
Defiant Keir Starmer insists his critics have been ‘wrong every time’
WAR OF ROSES
Sir Keir Starmer WILL fight a leadership election against Andy Burnham
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was said to have told Sir Keir to step down last night, following Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
One hundred Labour MPs have called on him to resign, and more are expected in the coming days.
The departing Greater Manchester Mayor beat Nigel Farage’s Reform candidate by 9,000 votes to claim the North West constituency with 55 per cent of the vote.
He will be sworn in as an MP for the second time on Monday, which will allow him to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership.
Andy Burnham celebrated his election victory with his wife Marie-France Van Heel and their daughter Rosie Credit: AP
Despite commanding around 200 MP supporters, Mr Burnham would prefer the PM to himself set out a timetable to quit rather than force a brutal and drawn-out contest.
Team Burnham is understood to be coordinating with leadership rival Wes Streeting about prising the PM from No10.
A Burnham ally said: “The ball is in the PM’s court. It would be in everyone’s interest for this to be a smooth transition.”
Sir Keir will spend the weekend mulling his future with his key aides and wife Lady Victoria.
Around a quarter of Labour MPs have publicly told him to stand down, with more expected to go over the top next week.
Yesterday, Jo White, the head of the Red Wall caucus, said: “This by-election result highlights the country’s demand for a new direction and hope.
“There must now be an orderly change of leadership for the good of our country and the Labour Party.”
Fellow Burnham backer, Luke Charters — recently a Starmer loyalist — said Sir Keir needed to “wake up and smell the coffee”.
Former Cabinet Minister Louise Haigh, who ran Mr Burnham’s campaign, said she hoped Sir Keir will “do what’s best for both the country and the Labour Party”.
Sir Keir was last night insisting there was “far more to come” from his premiership, and warned a leadership challenge would unleash chaos.
He told Labour staff: “Let’s pull together as a party and a movement. The one thing we’ve got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party and our movement.
“That has never worked. That’s what the last government did. We need to learn that lesson.”
Team Burnham is understood to be coordinating with leadership rival Wes Streeting about prising the PM from No10 Credit: Reuters
Sir Keir was last night insisting there was ‘far more to come’ from his premiership Credit: AP
But Mr Burnham used his victory speech to all-but declare his intention to replace Sir Keir.
At a morning rally, he said: “I do say to my own party, this is a final chance to change. This is what people said directly to me on the hundreds of doorsteps I stood on.
“We must hear it, we must act upon it and we must get it right.”Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who is a close ally to Mr Burnham, said “there will be a conversation” with the Prime Minister over the course of the weekend, but added: “That’s not for tonight.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch slammed the infighting, saying Labour is obsessed with internal party drama. Sir Keir led Labour to a landslide election victory less than two years ago, but has since seen his popularity tank.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
By Martina Bet
STARMER QUITS
Sir Keir concludes the game is up. He announces his resignation, with Mr Burnham becoming leader after a short contest or coronation.
Likelihood rating: 3/5. Sir Keir has vowed to fight any leadership challenge…but reality may bite.
ORDERLY TRANSITION
The pair could strike a deal — with the PM agreeing to go after the Labour conference in September, giving Mr Burnham time to prepare for power.
Likelihood rating: 3/5. Sir Keir would have time to hunt for a “legacy”.
STARMER DIGS IN, THEN FALLS
The PM refuses to budge and dares Mr Burnham or others to force him out.
But resignations start and the PM finds himself unable to carry on — much like Boris Johnson. Burnham enters No10.
Likelihood rating: 4/5. The PM’s allies still insist he is not bluffing when he says he will not go down easily.
ALL-OUT LEADERSHIP WAR
Sir Keir refuses to quit but Mr Burnham secures enough MPs to challenge him. Others pile in. Mr Burnham wins, but emerges with a bruised, divided party.
Likelihood rating: 2/5. Mr Burnham’s camp want to avoid this, but may have underestimated Sir Keir’s determination to stay.
The departing Greater Manchester Mayor beat Nigel Farage’s Reform candidate by 9,000 votes to claim the North West constituency with 55 per cent of the vote Credit: Reuters
Reform leads in the polls and is projected to take hundreds of Labour seats.
It has seen Labour MPs coalesce around Mr Burnham as an alternative, given his popularity as Greater Manchester Mayor.
An MP needs 81 backers in Parliament to trigger a leadership contest, with the serving PM automatically on the ballot.
Polling shows Mr Burnham would be the overwhelming favourite to win with the party members.
Mr Streeting and former defence minister Al Carns have signalled their intention to stand, but might fold into Mr Burnham’s team.
But many Labour MPs are privately sceptical about Mr Burnham, his left-wing agenda and spending promises. Home Office minister Mike Tapp said breaking with the 2024 manifesto would make it hard “not to call a general election”.
Yet Mr Burnham did indicate yesterday he would take a hardline approach on migration, ensuring places like Makerfield were not full of houses of multiple occupancy.
He said: “I heard on so many doorsteps people’s concerns about the unfairness of the immigration system.
That cut-price approach to procurement that means areas like this can end up like HMO Britain.
“It’s not fair that they think they can just operate like that and not hear the call of people here.
“The decent people here, who always will do the right thing, the compassionate thing, but not when it’s unfair in terms of the way places like this are treated.
“These are the calls that we’ve got to hear and this is the change that we’ve got to bring.”
Mr Burnham, who was at the count with wife Marie-France Van Heel and their daughter Rosie, also praised his “band of strong northern power women”.
He added: “I wouldn’t mess with them — and I suggest you don’t either.”
Nige vote alert
By Ryan Sabey
NIGEL Farage urged voters who abandoned Reform UK to “think again” if they want him to seize the keys to No10.
The party leader said he was “disappointed” with the Makerfield by-election result after losing votes to Restore Britain.
He also claimed many Reform UK supporters did not back them as they looked to unseat PM Sir Keir Starmer by backing a return to Parliament for Labour’s Andy Burnham.
Labour won with 55 per cent of the vote ahead of Reform UK on 35 per cent, followed by Restore Britain in third.
Mr Farage called on Restore Britain’s voters to support his party instead so they can act as the main “challenger party to the left”.
In a video message, he said: “In a sense, they were always expected to win. We were always the underdogs.
“But what we discovered, and this was fascinating, people who voted Reform at the locals deliberately said to us, ‘Even though I’m a Reform voter, I’m going to vote Burnham to guarantee to get Starmer out.’”
Reform candidate and plumber Robert Kenyon saw his campaign plagued by rows over previous social media messages.
Restore Britain candidate Rebecca Shepherd said the result sees her party “now officially on the map”.
