Andy Burnham’s decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election has plunged Keir Starmer’s leadership into its gravest crisis yet, with allies of the new MP hoping the prime minister will “come to his senses” over the weekend and set out a timetable for his departure.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle admitted it would be “delusional” to deny the forces moving against Starmer, as the number of Labour MPs calling for him to go continues to rise. The Mirror’s Voice of the Mirror column declared that a prime minister “cannot survive when his own side stops believing he can lead them through the next storm.”
“Keir Starmer faces mounting calls to resign after Andy Burnham's decisive by-election victory in Makerfield.”
Burnham, who comfortably won the seat once held by the late Yvonne Fovargue, made a series of expensive commitments during his by-election campaign but is yet to set out how he will fund them, according to the Daily Mail. Labour left figures are now urging him to rip up existing tax pledges, though Burnham himself has not commented.
Starmer, however, shows no sign of yielding. He confirmed on television that he will stand if there is a contest and used a lunchtime call with Labour staff to warn against “plunging our party and our country into chaos” by turning on each other. Without naming Burnham, he said the party needed to “pull together” and “take the fight” to Reform UK.
Behind the scenes, Starmer’s allies have been approaching Labour MPs with small majorities to warn that Burnham would call an early general election, putting their seats at risk. One ally told the New Statesman: “You can’t hand No 10 over to someone just because they ask you to. That’s not grown up.” Starmer sees no reason to vacate having won a decisive mandate only two years ago.
His team has a leadership campaign ready, including a “war chest” of more than £100,000 in donations and a bank account to receive further funding. Anna Turley, the party chair, wrote privately to cabinet ministers this week asking them to submit detailed reports on what their departments have done to “improve the lives of working people” – a move widely interpreted as preparing material for a contest.
The question now, as the Mirror put it, is whether Starmer “leaves in a manner of his choosing or is dragged into a contest that would wound Labour and distract the country.” The weekend is being seen as a grace period. So far, there are absolutely no indications from the prime minister that he is going anywhere.