Starmer says he will fight as leadership contest looms

Highlights

• Starmer says he will not step down and would contest any leadership challenge.
• Burnham's Makerfield by-election victory has intensified pressure on the prime minister.
• More Labour lawmakers are urging Starmer to consider an orderly transition.
• Burnham has signalled he is prepared to enter a leadership race if one is triggered.

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer said on Friday he would not walk away from his job, vowing to fight any leadership challenge after his leading party rival Andy Burnham secured a decisive victory in a parliamentary by-election in northwest England.

Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, won the Makerfield contest for Labour and has signalled he will enter any race to replace Starmer.

The scale of Burnham's victory prompted more Labour lawmakers to say Starmer should consider stepping down to allow an orderly handover.

But Starmer, who won a landslide election in 2024, said he was "not going to walk away", pointing to his government's record over the past two years, including closer ties with the European Union, stabilising the economy and reducing waiting times for the health service.

"If there is a contest ... then yes, I will run, I will stand, and I've said repeatedly I'm not going to walk away," Starmer told reporters in London during a visit designed to show it was "business as usual" for him.

Andy Burnham victory fuels fresh challenge to Starmer’s leadership

He again warned of the dangers of a potentially disruptive leadership campaign.

His refusal to accept growing Labour calls to set a timetable for stepping down, together with the scale of Burnham's win in Makerfield, could threaten hopes of an orderly transition by putting divisions on public display during a leadership contest.

Burnham, a 56-year-old career politician, won the contest in Makerfield in northwest England with 54.8 per cent of the vote, beating the candidate for the populist Reform UK, on 34.5 per cent, and boosting his image as someone who could halt the rise of veteran Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage's party.

Hours after claiming victory, Burnham set out a national approach in what lawmakers described as a prime ministerial-style address.

"I did talk about the need to change Labour ... and we've got to now take this moment and answer the challenges that have been laid down," he told a crowd of supporters, listing areas he said needed to be tackled: making life more affordable, reducing utility bills and driving reindustrialisation.

"It is our last chance to change but we are going to take it ... and we are going to lay out a new path for Britain."

His victory not only returned him to parliament, from where he can mount a leadership challenge, but also boosted the hopes of some worried Labour lawmakers that the party can win the next general election, due in 2029.

That is something some Labour lawmakers say Starmer, struggling with some of the worst popularity ratings of any British leader, cannot achieve.

Polls indicate Burnham would win a formal leadership contest, which is decided by party members, although some Labour lawmakers hope that process can be avoided.

That would mean Britain installing its seventh prime minister in just over a decade, the highest turnover in nearly two centuries, reflecting voter anger at successive failures to improve living standards and public services and tackle illegal immigration.

Starmer, 63, has repeatedly vowed to fight on despite scandals, policy U-turns and accusations of indecision, saying he wants to complete his five-year term by fulfilling his promise to solve some of Britain's most pressing problems.

But about a quarter of Labour lawmakers have urged him to quit since the party suffered heavy losses in local elections last month, and more have continued to add their names. Senior colleagues, including the defence and health ministers, have resigned.

Some Labour lawmakers said the party should give Starmer the weekend to think things over and consider stepping down.

A Burnham ally, Labour lawmaker Louise Haigh, told the BBC she hoped "that Andy and the prime minister can speak over the coming days".

"We want to avoid a leadership contest if possible, and we hope that we can agree a way forward," she said.

Many Labour members of parliament fear losing their seats at the next election in 2029 to Farage's party, which has led opinion polls for more than a year.

Another of Starmer's rivals, former health minister Wes Streeting, said this week he would force a contest soon unless the prime minister announced when he would stand down. He said Burnham's victory was proof that Labour needed to change.

Party rules require 20 per cent of the parliamentary party, or 81 lawmakers, to back a single candidate to trigger a leadership challenge.

(With inputs from agencies)