Keir Starmer faces a weekend deadline to set a timetable for his departure or be forced out by his own party, cabinet loyalists have warned, after Andy Burnham’s sweeping victory in the Makerfield by-election cleared the path for a leadership challenge.
Burnham, who won a compelling majority overnight, is expected to travel to London on Monday to meet MPs in the expectation of becoming prime minister within weeks, according to the Guardian. One cabinet minister who had not previously told the prime minister to go said his departure was now inevitable.
“Keir Starmer given weekend deadline to set exit timetable or face forced removal after Burnham by-election win.”
Starmer spent Friday phoning cabinet ministers to gauge support. The BBC was told that Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander suggested he set out a timetable to leave office. A spokesperson for Alexander said: “Heidi and the PM spoke this afternoon as part of wider cabinet calls. It was a private conversation and I am not going to reveal what was said.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves offered her full support.
But the prime minister insisted he will fight any challenge. Asked if he would set a timetable, Starmer told the BBC: “I was elected to serve my country with a mandate that we secured at a general election two years ago.” He added: “If there is a contest, yes I will run. I will stand and I have said repeatedly I am not going to walk away from that.”
In a lunchtime call with Labour staff, he urged the party to “pull together”. “The one thing we’ve got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party and our movement,” he said. “That has never worked. That’s what the last government did. We need to learn that lesson.”
Burnham’s allies have urged Starmer to reflect over the weekend and listen to his cabinet, MPs and family. The former mayor’s team and that of another potential challenger, Wes Streeting, said they would give no media interviews over the weekend, apparently to give the prime minister time to change his mind.
At least two ministers, Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood, have previously suggested Starmer should set a timetable. A crunch moment could come next Tuesday, when all senior ministers gather for the weekly cabinet meeting. Senior Labour sources said that if Starmer does not resign or indicate a transition by then, there will be an intervention at that meeting.
“The prime minister cannot pull the same move again where he refuses to talk to his own cabinet about his future,” one senior source told the Guardian. “He has a choice of allowing his cabinet and ministers to show open support for his rivals or risk the same situation as Boris Johnson.” Two Labour grandees, David Blunkett and Harriet Harman, have also called for a timetable for new leadership.
One MP said they believed about 200 Labour MPs were prepared, if necessary, to sign Burnham’s nomination papers for a challenge, though his supporters hope for a coronation. Another cabinet source said: “Everyone thinks it is over and everyone wants it to be a dignified, orderly exit.”