‘Why are we even doing this?’ The week that left Britain’s PM looking like an interim leader | Keir Starmer

IA minute or so into his BBC interview on Friday morning, Steve Reed lost patience when asked about “moves” to sack Keir Starmer. “No contest,” he interrupted. “‘Movements’ have no meaning. People need 81 nominations to oppose the prime minister.”

The housing minister, a close ally of Starmer and a founding member of the Labor Together think tank that brought him to power, was right of course: no one has formally challenged the prime minister, let alone brought him down.

But the truth is very clear. In one short but tumultuous week, Starmer has lost so much authority that most MPs, let alone the public, actually view him as an interim leader, remaining in office only until arrangements can be made for his replacement.

This risks oversimplifying. Andy Burnham is seemingly seen as the successor after Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary but stayed out of the leadership fight. But the mayor of Greater Manchester is not yet in parliament and will first need to win a by-election in Makerfield, a constituency on the edge of Wigan where Reform UK is optimistic about its chances and where the Greens are likely to campaign hard.

Those around the prime minister insist it is extremely strange that he not only continues to struggle but does so less than two years after a landslide election victory for a party that has spent much of its time in internal struggles in opposition.

“At points this week I felt like I was going crazy,” said a Labor official loyal to Starmer. “Why are we doing this? You can’t say, ‘The prime minister must go, we don’t know who will replace him.’ This is extremely irresponsible behavior.”

But that’s more or less how the week’s events began. On Saturday, two days after Labor suffered a blow in elections in England, Scotland and Wales, one of Starmer’s lesser-known MPs did his best to spark a contest. If this was one of the most unpredictable weeks in the UK’s recent political history, Catherine West was its mascot.

He began by saying that if no one in the cabinet was willing to seek the 81 candidates needed to launch the leadership race, he would do so. This became an email to Labor colleagues asking Starmer to resign.

Eccentric it may have been, but it foreshadowed a three-day mock battle to get rid of Starmer, as the various camps pooled their forces and began exploratory skirmishes.

On Monday, a handful of young frontliners, mostly allied with Streeting, left the government. That evening, several cabinet ministers asked the Prime Minister to consider the timetable for his departure.

On Tuesday, the resignations escalated to junior ministers, especially Jess Phillips. These were again from Team Streeting, but the first, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said he had given up pressing number 10 to allow Burnham to return to parliament.

On Wednesday, Downing Street appeared to be making a concerted effort to encourage Streeting to issue a formal challenge. While Starmer agreed to see the then health secretary for a humiliatingly brief meeting, the Prime Minister’s allies angrily reported that Streeting had nowhere near the 81 MPs he needed and had “bottled” them.

It took until Thursday for things to begin to become clear. At noon Streeting published a long and damning letter of resignation from the cabinet; this letter called for a leadership contest with a “broad” range of candidates; this effectively admitted that MP numbers were lacking. In one of the strangest turns of the wheel, this was also the day West told the BBC he might still support Starmer if there was a contest.

About four hours after Streeting’s resignation, almost every Labor MP in the north-west of England denied they would step down in Burnham’s favour, while one resigned. Josh Simons, who was elected as a Labor MP in 2024, has roots more in the centre-right of the party, but he tightly ties his fortune to the mayor of Manchester.

Luckily, Reed was on stage at an event when this news broke; The footage showed him frowning as he was briefed by a politely cheerful Michael Gove.

A few hours later came what appeared to be the final piece of the puzzle: Downing Street said the party’s national executive committee, which had blocked Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-elections in February, would not do the same this time.

For Burnham fans, the path ahead looked clear. His men will be elected to the seat, using a strong personal brand built over nearly a decade as mayor to overcome Reformation and return to the House of Commons. Some allies have said the idea would be to immediately challenge Starmer and come in for 10th place before the House of Commons goes into summer recess in July.

It’s a bold plan, but it has many obvious obstacles. If Burnham loses the by-election to Reform, her ambitions will be over, her so-called superpower – “Only I can stop Nigel Farage becoming prime minister” – shattered. For good measure, his departure as mayor also has the potential to hand Greater Manchester over to Reformation.

Even getting into parliament may not be the end of it. Although this is sometimes based on a mix of braggadocio, desperation and lethargic anger, Starmer’s allies continue to insist he will defy any challenge and are calling on Labor members who will make the final decision to maintain stability.

Such an approach shows that Streeting has not worked so far. It’s hard to underestimate what a source of comfort this has been in a painful week for Starmer’s supporters.

“This was Wes’ moment and he messed it up,” one said. “Since we took office, everyone has been more or less expecting him to do this job, and this was his chance. And he got 40 MPs. It’s a shame.”

Despite marathon efforts from allies, including minister Darren Jones, who acts as the Prime Minister’s chief secretary and spent six hours convincing MPs on Wednesday evening, things remain extremely difficult for the Prime Minister.

Starmer faces obvious limitations; especially the fact that he remains a poor communicator with few clearly articulated ideas who is widely disliked by voters, as evidenced by a generally insipid make-or-break speech on Monday.

There are some signs of greater courage; for example, comments on Friday condemning a far-right march planned to take place in London the following day as part of the “fight for the soul of this country”. Similarly, No 10 insists voters are starting to see results as the chaotic week overshadowed news of a huge drop in NHS England waiting lists and better-than-expected economic growth.

But even some cabinet allies admit that at some point they may have to face the reality that the game is over.

“If we get closer to the election, if you get to the point where he can’t win but someone else can, where he’s clear in his own mind that it can’t be done, then he’ll make sure there’s an orderly transition,” one said. “But he’s not there yet, and he shouldn’t be less than two years after he won the general election.”