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Starmer expected to announce departure as prime minister on Monday
Peter Walker
The Guardian’s senior political correspondent, Peter Walker, has more on the prime minister’s intentions going forward:
Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Monday that he will step down as prime minister, after overwhelming pressure from Labour MPs to make way for Andy Burnham to become Labour leader.
The prime minister and his allies had insisted for weeks that they would fight a leadership challenge from Burnham, or anyone else, before the Makerfield byelection in which Burnham was hoping to secure a return to Westminster.
But on Sunday morning, the business secretary, Peter Kyle, told Sky News that Starmer was spending the weekend “making time to reflect on the political realities” he faces.
Speaking for the government, Kyle refused to say what he thought Starmer’s plans were, or what he had asked the PM to do. You can read the full story here:
Key events
The former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak has given Andy Burnham some advice in a piece for the Sunday Times. As a reminder, in July 2024 Sunak lost to Keir Starmer in what was the Tory party’s worst general election defeat in its parliamentary history. Sunak, who is still the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, wrote:
Burnham must recognise that if he reaches No 10, he’ll never have more power than on his first day in the job. It is vital he has a clear and achievable plan for what he wants to do in those opening hours.
Those around Burnham will want to get him there by forcing Starmer out through ministerial resignations and the like. Burnham shouldn’t want to become PM by default, though.
I remember on the morning after Boris Johnson dropped out in October 2022, I kept suggesting to my team that we should want a contest, that it would be good for us.
They assumed that I was just emotionally preparing for another candidate getting the necessary nominations and having to go through a leadership election. But I actually meant it. Without one, your mandate is weak, and you end up being bound by commitments that aren’t your priorities.
Some commentators have said Andy Burnham is just a better communicator than Keir Starmer, but have questioned how different he is on policy.
The Guardian’s policy editor, Kiran Stacey, has helpfully looked at the political projects a Burnham government would likely pursue in this useful explainer:
Foreign secretary tells Starmer to stand down - report
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has told Keir Starmer he should stand down as prime minister, Sky News is reporting.
Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, and transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, have all also urged the prime minister to lay out a timetable for his departure from No 10, according to other news reports.
As he spent Sunday at Chequers considering his premiership, Keir Starmer took the time to post on social media about father’s day. He wrote on X:
Being a dad is my greatest joy.Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him. Happy Father’s Day.
The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, said nothing will fundamentally change if Andy Burnham replaces Keir Starmer as prime minister because the Labour party is “addicted” to debt and borrowing – and that is something that will continue under new leadership.
On Burnham specifically, Stride told Sky News: “This is somebody who has flip-flopped all over the place. You have seen it even in this byelection itself.”
“He doesn’t apparently understand what the fiscal rules are. He said rather foolish things about the bond markets in the past. The markets are watching,” Stride said, in reference to Bunrham previously suggesting the country should be less in hock to the reaction of bond traders. The outgoing Greater Manchester mayor has since bolstered his team of economic advisers in an apparent attempt to boost his fiscal credibility.
Stride went on to say that Burnham taking over as prime minister would be “bad and in the wrong direction”. The Conservatives would like Starmer to stay as leader because of his deep unpopularity across the country, as reflected in Labour’s disastrous election results across England, Scotland and Wales in May.
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Peter Kyle has been speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on her Sunday politics programme. The business secretary repeated very similar lines to the ones he gave Sky News earlier this morning, notably that Keir Starmer is taking the time this weekend to think through the “political realities” he faces “today” (compared to the last two weeks). He said Starmer will reflect on what is in the country’s best interest.
Peter Kyle said Labour should not descend into infighting in the way that the Conservatives did whenever they faced a “moment of political challenge”. The Tories were readily defeated at the 2024 election by Starmer after churning through five prime ministers in seven years, including three during 2022.
When asked if he thinks it is in the country’s interest for Keir Starmer to go, Peter Kyle tellingly dodged the question and said it was imperative for the government to continue to function despite the political turbulence. He told Sky News:
My priority when I think what my role is in putting the country first is to uphold the authority of this government to make sure we can govern through a moment of political challenge and that we are 100% focused on delivering.
Starmer expected to announce departure as prime minister on Monday
Peter Walker
The Guardian’s senior political correspondent, Peter Walker, has more on the prime minister’s intentions going forward:
Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Monday that he will step down as prime minister, after overwhelming pressure from Labour MPs to make way for Andy Burnham to become Labour leader.
The prime minister and his allies had insisted for weeks that they would fight a leadership challenge from Burnham, or anyone else, before the Makerfield byelection in which Burnham was hoping to secure a return to Westminster.
But on Sunday morning, the business secretary, Peter Kyle, told Sky News that Starmer was spending the weekend “making time to reflect on the political realities” he faces.
Speaking for the government, Kyle refused to say what he thought Starmer’s plans were, or what he had asked the PM to do. You can read the full story here:
Starmer is reflecting on the 'political realities and challenges' he currently faces, cabinet minister says
The business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, told Sky News that he has not spoken to Starmer since Friday - but he had a “very detailed conversation” with him then, which he said was “private” and “personal”.
“The prime minister was calm. He was thoughtful. He led the conversation,” Kyle told Trevor Philips.
“Repeatedly, the prime minister asked about the country. Not once in that conversation, which was a lengthy conversation, did he ever ask about self-interest; it was always about the country. And I think that is the tone of the conversation I had with him.
“It was frank, and I think that is the mindset that the prime minister is in as he goes into this weekend, through which he has been working very hard as prime minister, as he always does, but also trying to make time to reflect on the political challenges at the moment.”
Kyle went on to say that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in”. Over the weekend, the prime minister has been at his country retreat, Chequers, spending time with his wife, Victoria, and children.
Starmer reportedly expected to resign on Monday as growing numbers of MPs back Andy Burnham for PM
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to resign on Monday and is preparing to set out a timetable for an orderly departure from No 10, according to the Observer.
The paper reports that Starmer, who has insisted he would fight any leadership challenge, now recognises his position is untenable after talking with cabinet ministers, party donors and trade union leaders over the last couple of days.
“He’s come up hard against the reality that the support isn’t there,” one source told the Observer. “The truth is everyone knows this is no longer a tenable proposition. There’s a sadness about it all, of course, but sometimes there’s just an inevitability in politics and as Boris Johnson said, ‘When the herd moves it moves’.”
No 10 has denied the report that Starmer is about to resign and said he is getting on with the job of prime minister.
The number of MPs backing Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership surged following his triumphant byelection victory in Mankerfield last week which showed he could fight off Reform in a general election.
The Greater Manchester mayor is expected to be in Westminster on Monday to be sworn into the House of Commons. He is reportedly planning to speak to Starmer afterwards and present him with a list of backers – which he is said to be seeking to get up to 200 – in an attempt to press him to step down and set out a transition.
Allies of Burnham favour a longer wait to allow them to prepare for government, which could mean Starmer could remain prime minister for months.
The number of Labour MPs publicly calling for Starmer to go has exceeded 100 – just under a quarter of the party’s MPs – and includes many who want a transition of power without the spectacle of a potentially messy leadership contest.
Starmer is under pressure to reveal his plans before a crunch cabinet meeting on Tuesday, where a number of ministers are expected to tell him his time is up.
