Keir Starmer is facing a major challenge to his premiership after an MP resigned his seat to allow his chief rival Andy Burnham back into parliament.
The Labour backbencher Josh Simons announced that he would stand aside in his north-west constituency of Makerfield, stating that getting the mayor of Manchester into parliament could “drive change”.
The move is not without risk. Given that the seat has a majority of 5,300, with Reform in second place and Labour’s dire performance in last week’s local elections, it is not guaranteed that Mr Burnham will win.
But if he does re-enter parliament – he left in 2017 to stand for the Manchester role – it will almost certainly be the end of Mr Starmer’s premiership. Mr Burnham is popular among MPs and will easily garner the 81 required to trigger a leadership election.
He is even more popular among the estimated 250,000 party members, with the latest poll from the Labour List group showing him beating Mr Starmer by 61 per cent to 28 per cent, with 11 uncertain.
Mr Burnham later confirmed he would run for the seat, saying that “much bigger change is needed at a national level”.
Exchange of letters
There was a feverish atmosphere in Westminster on Thursday, complete with claps of thunder over central London, as the morning started with speculation over whether Health Secretary Wes Streeting would resign.
By midday, he at last announced he would quit government but did not explicitly say he would challenge Mr Starmer.
In a letter posted on X, Mr Streeting said it would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” for him to stay on as health secretary after he had told the Prime Minister earlier this week that he had lost confidence in his leadership.
Labour’s disastrous polling in last week’s local elections, largely due to Mr Starmer’s unpopularity, has proven to be the trigger that could unseat him.
While Mr Streeting praised Mr Starmer’s landslide victory in the 2024 election, and his “courage and statesmanship on the world stage – not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran”, he said that “where we need vision, we have a vacuum, where we need direction, we have drift”.
He concluded by saying it was “clear” that Mr Starmer would not lead Labour into the next general election, which is scheduled for 2029.
In his response, Mr Starmer stated it was “incumbent on all of us to rise to what I see as a battle for the soul of our nation”.
“As part of that we must deliver on all of the promises we made to the country, including our promise to turn the page on the chaos that was roundly rejected by the British people at the last general election.”
However, Mr Streeting did not say he would be making a leadership challenge. The latest polling by the Labour List website shows that Mr Starmer would beat his former cabinet colleague by 53 per cent to 23 per cent in a head-to-head contest.
That scenario is unlikely, as Labour candidates from the left of the party would come forward to stand.
Foremost will be former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who, with exquisite timing, announced that the tax investigation against her had been concluded, with her repaying £40,000 in unpaid taxes and no penalty.
She is understood to be a reluctant contender but would want to represent the left wing of the party, whereas Mr Streeting is positioned on the Blairite right.
Energy Secretary and former party leader Ed Miliband could also step forward as the representative of the left.
An outside contender is the Royal Marines veteran and current Armed Forces Minister Al Carns, who is attracting some support within the party but has only been in politics for two years.
Ms Rayner and Mr Miliband would also beat Mr Starmer. The Labour List polling showed support for Ms Rayner at 45 per cent compared with 41 per cent for Mr Starmer, and for Mr Miliband at 36 per cent compared with 39 per cent for Mr Starmer.
