Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce his resignation as early as Monday, according to reports, after Andy Burnham’s victory in Makerfield turned Cabinet ministers.
Starmer will set out timings for his exit from Downing Street in a speech on Monday, The Observer reported, after his grip on power has slipped with several policy U-turns, the Mandelson scandal and a recent string of resignations.
The Prime Minister was told by Cabinet ministers, Number 10 advisers and senior party figures that his position was untenable.
The business secretary Peter Kyle, who has been a strong ally of Starmer, did not play down questions over the expected resignation when asked in interviews on Sunday.
He said: “I don’t know what’s going to unfold in the days that lie ahead. I don’t know the decisions that he will make on behalf of our country as he considers these issues, and then makes decisions.
“But we will find a way for this to be whatever unfolds, a functional process, one where the Labour Party is seen to put the interests of the country first and foremost, and we will carry on delivering for this country through whatever does unfold in the days ahead.”
Kyle added that he had had a “frank conversation” with Starmer on Friday and that the Prime Minister was “making time to reflect on the political realities”.
Starmer’s woes
Starmer is the sixth Prime Minister in 16 years and, should he resign, would be the shortest-living Labour Prime Minister in history.
His premiership has come unstuck by a vocal and activist parliamentary Labour Party, with a U-turn on winter fuel payments and a subsequent failure to implement welfare cuts being some of the first signs of Starmer’s struggling leadership.
Dire local election results in May for Labour, MPs’ backing for Burnham’s return to parliament and a row over funding for defence spending with the former Cabinet minister John Healey have stung the Prime Minister.
His resignation would trigger a leadership contest, though broad support for Burnham among party members could mean the former Manchester mayor swiftly gets the keys to Number 10.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting has said he would enter a leadership race while other rumoured candidates include the former armed forces minister Al Carns and the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper.
Chancellor pick
It was also reported on Sunday that Rachel Reeves was set to lose her job if Starmer quit and Burnham became Prime Minister.
According to The Sunday Times, Ed Miliband has been suggested as a possible Chancellor appointment. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the influential trade union Unite, urged Burnham to avoid appointing Miliband due to his steadfast commitment to net zero.
Other possible candidates include Pat McFadden, John Healey and Streeting, who delivered a speech in favour of “progressive capitalism”.
Burnham’s adviser and former Treasury minister Jim O’Neill re-opened the possibility of fiscal rules being tweaked in an interview on Saturday as he suggested there could be further government borrowing to invest in infrastructure.
“I don’t think you’d necessarily have to rip up the fiscal rules. I think you just need to be bolder about borrowing to invest,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill also urged Burnham to scrap the triple lock pension and be awarded with a “significantly lower bond market premium and a big boost to financial conditions that would boost consumer and corporate confidence”.
