Starmer-Burnham latest: PM reportedly ‘resigned’ to stepping down as over 100 MPs call for him to quit

Sir Keir Starmer reportedly spent the weekend at Checkers with his wife Victoria considering whether to stay as prime minister and enter the leadership race or leave gracefully.

Pressure was mounting on the Labor leader on Saturday, with multiple reports saying Sir Keir had realized he could no longer remain prime minister.

As the debate over Sir Keir’s future heats up further, Economy Minister Peter Kyle will represent the cabinet alongside Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC’s Sunday broadcast this morning.

He will be joined by shadow chancellor Mel Stride, former cabinet secretary Simon Case, Downing Street’s former director of political strategy Paul Ovenden and Labour’s John Hutton. The show will also feature Labor MPs Toby Perkins, Jess Phillips and Luke Charters.

Monday will bring Andy Burnham to Westminster on his first day as MP for Makerfield.

Andy Burnham’s allies are reportedly confident he will be crowned prime minister rather than face a protracted competition for the Labor leadership.

Mr Burnham is hopeful he will gain enough support from MPs and launch a contest for the top job. Guard reported.

Cabinet ministers warned Sir Keir on Friday that he faced a series of painful resignations if he chose to enter the leadership race rather than set a timetable for his departure. It paves the way for Mr Burnham to potentially be crowned prime minister.

An ally of Burnham told the newspaper: We passed every ridiculous test they set; To win like Andy did, we broke every ceiling they set; I think there cannot be a clearer message than this.

“It’s nothing personal, but we can’t afford not to do it. We have to be honest with ourselves about where we are and what we need to do to keep the Labor government afloat and [Starmer] unfortunately I can’t do this.

“This is an existential crisis for us.”

A unique situation was opened for him, albeit with some simple maneuvers that could often be described as Machiavellian. A by-election in a fairly safe ‘local’ Labor seat was designed with him in mind; It was a place where he could take advantage of the difficulties created by the highly unpopular Labor government and its prime minister in this election. “Vote for Us” was Burnham’s excitement-based slogan. You might say this is quite disingenuous.

For weeks, the name of the Labor government, let alone Keir Starmer, was barely on their lips. The only time he mentioned Labor being in power was to trash the record of not only the current government but also Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for whom he served loyally as minister and later in cabinet.

They may have done a few good things now, according to Burnham – but they were just one episode in 40 years of neoliberal Thatcherite betrayal of the North of England and the working classes, and it’s probably time they were held to account by our Andy.

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Purnell and Burnham were close friends. Both were special advisors to the Blair government; Both had parachuted into safe Labor seats in the north-west of England in their early thirties, and both had risen to the cabinet before they were 40.

All eyes turned to Burnham. Would he gamble and try to overthrow a failed leader? Burnham chose to remain in office and was even promoted to secretary of health.

Some Labor figures from this period still wonder how different history might have been had Brown been sacked in 2009 and David Miliband stepped in. If Burnham had made another choice, could Labor have clung to power by blocking David Cameron, austerity and Brexit in the 2010 general election? This is a question that future historians should consider.

Read the full analysis here:

The Green Party has announced councilor Geraldine Coggins as its candidate in the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election triggered by Andy Burnham’s election as MP.

Labor is presenting the contest as a two-horse race between Labor and Reform UK, but the Greens are looking to build on their success in the Gorton and Denton byelections with a strong challenge of their own.

Ms Coggins told supporters at the launch event in Manchester that it was a direct competition between the Greens and Nigel Farage’s party, and vowed to improve transport, housing and choose “people and planet over profits”.

Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said on Saturday that his Restore party will run as a candidate and will announce his name next week.

The party said Ms Coggins, who has been Trafford’s councilor in Greater Manchester since 2018 and is originally from Ireland, is a published academic with a background in leadership, public finance and strategic decision-making.

A senior ally of Sir Keir Starmer said: Sun They believe there is “only a 25 percent chance of continuing to fight right now.”

Sir Keir faces mounting pressure to set a timetable for his resignation Observer We inform you that this may happen starting from Monday.

A Labor colleague told the paper they thought Sir Keir had seen that “it is no longer possible to stop the chaos by staying (as he rightly puts it)”.

No 10 said Sir Keir’s position had not changed since Friday, when he said he would “not walk away” from Downing Street and planned to join any potential contests.

During lunch on Friday he warned Labor Party workers to avoid “throwing our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing our party and our movement apart”.

He reportedly met with some Cabinet ministers on Friday, some of whom told him he should set a timetable for his departure.

Ministers willing to support Andy Burnham’s challenge for the Labor leadership have been told by his team “not to resign” but instead to tell Sir Keir Starmer he must set a timetable for his resignation.

One person from the Burnham camp said: Sunday Times: “Don’t be trigger happy, right? Go and talk [Starmer] and tell him firmly that he needs to prepare a timetable.”

They added: “For some, this is the third time they’ve told him this. So I’m not sure it’s going to suddenly work. But there will be more of them than before.”

Ministers who have told Sir Keir he should resign include transport secretary Heidi Alexander and chief whip Jonathan Reynolds, according to reports.

Sir Keir Starmer is considering his position after being told he should step down as prime minister by “not the usual suspects”, according to a report.

A government source said Sunday Telegraph He said Sir Keir was thinking about his future because those who were pressuring him to resign “were different, they weren’t the usual suspects”.

A Labor MP who the newspaper said was generally considered loyal said he believed Sir Keir could set a departure date on Monday.

They said Sir Keir’s support had dwindled so much that “there was no one left”.

An ally of Keir said: Sun: “I think right now he only has a 25 percent chance of continuing to fight.”

Rachel Reeves will lose her job as Chancellor if Andy Burnham takes over as Prime Minister. Sunday Times reports.

Burnham’s team decided that keeping Ms. Reeves in place “would not represent a sufficient change of direction,” according to the newspaper.

According to the report, Energy Minister Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting and Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden have been nominated as potential replacements.

Sir Keir Starmer has realized the “game is over” and is preparing to resign, according to the report. Sunday Telegraph.

A senior government official told the paper that Sir Keir realized he could not hold on as prime minister and was considering “how he could bolster his legacy” before being replaced.

The source said there was “quite a lot of movement” among cabinet ministers over whether Sir Keir should remain in the job, which was putting pressure on the Labor leader.

A government official said “something will have happened by the end of the week” and warned that if Sir Keir did not resign, “we could fall into mass resignation territory”.

Following his resounding victory at Makerfield, Andy Burnham, now an MP, is said to prefer a coronation as leader rather than a contest over who will lead the Labor Party.