Updated ,first published
London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer appears set to resign after cabinet ministers urged him to make way for rival leader Andy Burnham in a transition that could be announced as soon as Monday.
One of Starmer’s closest allies, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, said the prime minister was considering his future over the weekend after talking to colleagues in the wake of Burnham’s election to parliament last Thursday.
The remarks fuelled reports of an imminent resignation after Kyle failed to rule out Starmer standing aside, even though the prime minister said on Saturday he would contest a ballot if challenged.
“The only thing I can say with fact is that the prime minister is hard at work, as he is every day,” Kyle told Sky News on Sunday (London time).
“He is one of the most hard working people I have ever come across, and today, as in every other day I’ve ever known Keir, he is out there working hard.
“At the same time he is also trying to create the space where he can think and reflect on the political realities and challenges and the opportunities that are before us.”
One Labour MP, cited by The Daily Telegraph of London and said to be loyal to the prime minister, said he believed Starmer would announce his departure date as soon as Monday.
“There’s no one left. Literally people whose relatives work in No. 10 or people who are long-term personal friends of Starmer’s are pretty much the only ones left,” the MP said, without being named.
The Observer newspaper said Starmer accepted that the party wanted to install Burnham as leader, citing allies who said he would set out plans for an “orderly exit” on Monday.
The widespread reporting of the likely resignation relied on sources who were not named in the reports, in a familiar pattern in leadership manoeuvres.
Doubts continued over how the transition might occur, with one option being a timetable for Starmer to step down in a process that might be announced soon and take several weeks or even months.
Kyle, however, argued for a ballot rather than a decision to elevate Burnham unopposed.
“My approach to this has always been that contests are better wherever possible,” he told the BBC after his Sky interview.
“That need to be balanced with the needs of maintaining the authority of the party through any processes as they unfold.”
Starmer was said to be spending the weekend at Chequers, the prime minister’s official residence outside London, with his wife, Victoria.
The prospect of a leadership ballot is central to the next steps in the leadership saga after months of speculation about Burnham and other contenders for the top post, such as former health secretary Wes Streeting, who quit the cabinet in May and has called for Starmer to resign.
Former Labour minister John Hutton, now a member of the House of Lords, said the government was in a “horrendous” position because Starmer had lost support after a series of mistakes.
“If there’s going to be a change of leadership, which looks certain now, you know, I’d kind of like a choice in that,” he told the BBC.
Under Labour rules, a challenger to the prime minister would need the endorsement of 81 MPs to request the party secretary to start a leadership ballot, which would be open to thousands of members and would take weeks.
This means the Labour rules do not allow for a swift ballot decided by MPs so the challenger can assume the top post within a day, as seen in Australian leadership spills under the Westminster system the past.
Burnham, a former minister who returned to parliament on Thursday with an emphatic win at a by-election in Makerfield, a seat near Manchester, made no comment on his plans and has not declared that he will challenge.
While Burnham has not set out an alternative policy agenda to Starmer, he is widely portrayed as the best contender to take the top job because of his communication skills and his convincing defeat of right-wing party Reform UK in the Makerfield race.
The London press has named four senior cabinet ministers who have privately urged Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
One government source told the BBC it was “nuts” to think Starmer could defeat Burnham in a leadership ballot.
The Financial Times reported that Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour chief whip, told Starmer on Friday that there was a growing desire among backbenchers for an orderly transition to Burnham.
Labour MPs are due to meet in Westminster on Monday night for the sitting of parliament, with the prime minister due to face questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
