UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to resign, UK politics
Camilla Turner, Sabrina Miller And Dominik Penna
Sir Keir Starmer’s allies believe he is preparing to resign after facing an evaporation of support at the weekend.
A senior government official said: Telegram The embattled prime minister was realizing that “the game was over” and his thoughts were turning to “how he could strengthen his legacy.”
They said there had been “quite a lot of movement” among Cabinet ministers since Andy Burnham’s Makerfield by-election victory, leading Starmer to reconsider his previous commitment to serving.
A Labor MP generally thought to be loyal to the prime minister said he believed Starmer would announce his departure date on Monday, given his support among MPs was now down to just a handful of “friends and family”.
“There’s no one left. Literally people whose relatives work at No 10 or people who are long-time personal friends of Starmer are pretty much all that’s left,” they said, adding that trying to stand in the way of Burnham’s path to Downing Street was “like trying to fight gravity”.
One government official predicted that “something will happen by the end of the week” and warned that if Starmer did not resign, “we could fall into mass resignation territory”.
Another government source said Starmer was thinking about his future at the weekend, adding that the “people” now telling him his time was up were “different, not the usual suspects”.
A former loyalist MP who has openly backed the prime minister last month said he believed Starmer was “increasingly” and added: “Andy can do it without contest, he’s got a good story and is better suited to form a broad coalition in the general election.”
An ally told Sun newspaper: “I think he only has a 25 percent chance of continuing to fight right now.”
Burnham is said to have the support of nearly 300 MPs, while allies said the size of her support meant her coronation would be “inevitable”.
The Prime Minister is being encouraged by Cabinet ministers and MPs, many of whom are former loyalists, to set a timetable for his departure rather than engage in a leadership race.
Five senior Cabinet ministers have privately asked Starmer to set a timetable: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander did so on Friday, while Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper gave a similar message. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Starmer’s old friend Ed Miliband had previously told him to leave.
PM in danger of ’embarrassing himself’
A government source told the BBC it was “crazy” to imagine Starmer could beat Burnham in the leadership battle; A Cabinet source said they would not want to see him “humiliate himself” in a competition.
His chief whip Jonathan Reynolds told Starmer on Friday that there was a growing desire among the backbenchers for an orderly transfer of power to Burnham. Finance Times reported.
Even one of Starmer’s staunchest supporters said: “Some big decisions need to be made over the next few weeks and months, and they shouldn’t be made when people are angry or tired or injured by others who have a vested interest in Labor losing the next election.”
A friend of the Prime Minister told Observer: “He sees the facts. In his own words, it is no longer possible to stop the ‘chaos’ by staying, there is only one option left.
“I think he’s starting to see this as a missionary option to serve the country and the party.”
There is growing speculation that Wes Streeting is preparing to accept Burnham in exchange for a Cabinet position, despite a member of Wes Streeting’s campaign team insisting the former health secretary is “ready” for the leadership challenge.
“He has a website, he made a launch video, his slogan is ‘We Still Can Do It,’” they said.
But Streeting’s allies spoke of his friendship with Burnham, saying they “got on quite well” and revealed they met at Makerfield on Monday and spoke on Friday evening. However, sources denied any agreement was made between the two men.
A Labor source said: “The biggest problem for both Andy and Wes is that the Prime Minister is still in office. “Andy and Wes are not out this weekend.
“Both give Keir the space to come to the correct conclusion that standing up to this challenge is not good for him, the party or the country. That’s better than having to drag him out.”
Downing Street sources insisted Starmer stood by his words when he vowed on Friday to remain prime minister and not enter any leadership contest.
They said he would be “out” next week and at least one domestic policy announcement was planned for early in the week.
Starmer is understood to be spending the weekend at the countryside retreat Chequers with his wife Lady Starmer while he considers his options.
Telegraph, London
