Talk of Starmer staying on to fight is fading - fast
BBC News 2026-06-20 11:33:50
Context: The UK Labour Party is facing a potential leadership crisis as talk of Sir Keir Starmer staying on as prime minister to fight a challenge from Andy Burnham is rapidly fading. Starmer is currently at his country retreat, Chequers, with his wife, while Burnham is spending the weekend with his family. The Labour Party has faced significant challenges, including multiple U-turns, resignations, and poor election results.
Key Facts
- Sir Keir Starmer's position as prime minister is under threat due to growing support for Andy Burnham, who has shown success as the Mayor of Greater Manchester and has a talent for making people feel good, a quality Labour in Westminster has forgotten.
- Andy Burnham has demonstrated his ability to beat Reform UK, a party that had seemed a deadly threat to Labour, and is popular in the country, with many MPs eager to back him and his brand.
- Starmer's own party members are increasingly turning against him, with over 100 MPs now calling for him to go and support for him to stay in the cabinet fading, leading one senior party figure to predict he will have to go.
- Despite Starmer's initial claims that he would fight if challenged by Burnham, his backers are now privately acknowledging that a leadership contest is likely, with some donors having already given money to run a campaign and office spaces being found.
- The potential precedent of ousting a leader off the back of a by-election, with the votes from a group of only 77,000 people deciding everything for the whole country, has raised concerns among some Labour members, who worry about the implications for the party's future.