Highlights
- Starmer has publicly vowed to fight any leadership challenge, saying he will not "walk away"
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves offered Starmer her full support; other ministers' positions remain unclear
- Burnham's allies want a transition completed before Labour's September conference
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer is facing pressure from senior cabinet colleagues to set out a timetable for his departure, after Andy Burnham's landslide win in the Makerfield by-election fuelled expectations of a Labour leadership challenge.
The Financial Times reported that transport secretary Heidi Alexander had told Starmer it would be in the interests of the country and the Labour party for him to step aside and allow an orderly transition to a new leader.
A spokesperson for Alexander declined to confirm details of the conversation, saying only, 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."
The Times reported that while Starmer insisted publicly he would fight any challenge, a source close to the prime minister said his private position was more "nuanced."
According to reports, he was expected to speak to his wife, Victoria, and his family over the weekend before deciding whether to fight on.
Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, won Makerfield with 54.8 per cent of the vote, despite Reform UK having won the seat at last month's local elections.
Burnham to meet Starmer
Burnham is due to meet Starmer early next week and is expected to present him with a list of around 200 Labour MPs who would back him in a leadership contest. He was also expected to speak to former health secretary Wes Streeting over the weekend and was preparing to offer him a senior cabinet role to avoid a contest altogether.
Reports said that chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke to Starmer after the Makerfield result was announced and offered her full support. Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, by contrast, pressed Starmer during a one-to-one meeting to set out a departure timeline.
The BBC reported that home secretary Shabana Mahmood and energy secretary Ed Miliband had urged Starmer last month to set a resignation timetable following poor local election results, and that Mahmood and Starmer had not spoken since Burnham's by-election win.
Prime minister Keir Starmer talks with local residents as he visits a housing development on June 19, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid -WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Mahmood was expected to stay on as home secretary under a Burnham premiership, after he endorsed her approach, while Miliband was considered the favourite to become Burnham's chancellor.
Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary who ran Burnham's by-election campaign, said she hoped for a "managed and orderly transition," according to the BBC.
'Burnham earned the right'
Jess Phillips, who resigned from the government following May's local elections, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Burnham had "earned the right" to make his case to Labour MPs, adding that prospective candidates should be "tested with the rigour of at least some manner of contest."
Phillips, who backs Streeting, said many Labour MPs "do not know Andy Burnham."
Bracknell MP Peter Swallow, who had previously backed Starmer, told BBC Newsnight he now believed the prime minister should resign, citing the failure to agree a defence investment plan as "the last straw."
Justice secretary Catherine Atkinson said that Starmer had "grit and determination" and would not "walk away," warning: "We cannot afford to get distracted — there is just too much to do."
To trigger a formal leadership contest, Burnham or any other challenger would need backing from 81 Labour MPs, a threshold he is expected to clear easily. Under Labour rules, Starmer does not need MPs' nominations to remain on the ballot as the sitting leader.
YouGov polling found 79 per cent of voters said they knew little or nothing about Burnham, raising questions about how he would be received as a prospective prime minister.
Burnham is due to be formally sworn in as an MP on Monday (22).
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called his party's second-place finish in Makerfield "disappointing," blaming the loss of "a couple of thousand voters" to the right-wing Restore Britain party. He urged those voters to "think again," saying: "We are the challenger party to the left in this country."
