KEIR Starmer is expected to resign as early as Monday, according to reports, as a leadership threat from Andy Burnham looms.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly vowed not to walk away from his post, even as public talk of a leadership contest or handing power to Burnham has gained pace among Labour figures since he won the Makerfield by-election on Friday.
The number of Labour MPs calling for Starmer to go has since topped 100 – just under a quarter of the party’s MPs – and includes some who signed a letter warning against a leadership contest just last month.
Labour grandees have also spoken out, with former home secretary Alan Johnson saying Starmer should step aside and Lord Falconer saying he has “no authority” because it is assumed he will be replaced.
The Prime Minister is understood to be at Chequers with his wife, Victoria, this weekend, and is reportedly reflecting on how to proceed.
The Guardian reports that Starmer is expected to announce his resignation on Monday.
This has also been reported by the Observer, quoting senior Labour figures who believe a “clear statement” could come as early as Monday.
Elsewhere, a senior ally told The Sun they believe there is “just a 25% chance he fights on now”, while The Observer cited a Labour peer who said they think Starmer sees that “stopping ‘chaos’ (as he rightly put it) is now not possible by staying.”
No 10 said Starmer's position remained unchanged from Friday, when he said he will not “walk away” from Downing Street and that he plans to stand in any potential contest.
He warned Labour staffers during a call on Friday lunchtime to avoid “plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party and our movement”.
He is understood to have spoken to a number of Cabinet ministers on Friday, some of whom are reported to have told him he should set out a timetable for his departure.
And speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the UK Government would make sure that “whatever unfolds” in the coming days will be a “functional process” whereby the Labour Party puts the “interests of the country first and foremost”.
He also told Sky News that Starmer was spending the weekend "making time to reflect on the political realities" he faces and "what putting country first means in a moment like this".
Some in Westminster believe a contest could begin as early as next week, but allies of Burnham favour a longer wait to allow them to prepare for government.
It is understood that Burnham’s camp wants Starmer to set out his plans in the coming days but would accept a timetable that kept him in No 10 until September.
The incoming Makerfield MP is expected to be in Westminster on Monday to be sworn into the Commons.
He is reportedly planning to speak to Starmer afterwards and present him with a list of backers – which he is said to be seeking to get up to 200 – in a bid to press him to step down and set out a transition.
In a blow to Starmer, Labour peer Charlie Falconer said he has “absolutely no authority” because “everybody assumes” Burnham is going to challenge him and win.
He said he would advise Starmer not to stand in a leadership contest and instead agree a handover, preferably before the parliamentary recess on July 16.
And former deputy leader Baroness Harriet Harman, who Starmer appointed as a special envoy for women and girls, said there is a “sense of collective movement” from within Labour and that she expected Starmer to leave office and for Burnham to take his place.
She has urged the party to move faster than aiming for a timetable ending in September, telling Sky News’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast ministers could not be left “in a state of paralysis all through the summer”.
The SNP said it is clear that Starmer's "resignation is imminent", warning of further chaos over his replacement.
SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: "Keir Starmer is being dragged out of No 10 by his own party whilst the country suffers through a government ignoring the myriad of challenges facing people in their everyday lives. It's clear Westminster chaos will never end.
“Even his own allies are now conceding - the language from a key Starmer ally this morning makes clear his resignation is imminent."
Brown said Labour had asked voters to "trust them to end the era of political psychodrama".
"Yet barely into government they’ve been consumed by internal division and are now lurching towards yet another leadership contest," he added.
The depute leader continued: “Keir Starmer promised voters a government focused on fixing broken Brexit Britain but instead they scrapped the Winter Fuel Payment, broke their promise to WASPI women, and have been defined by a complete lack of principles.
“It turns out the only thing moving faster than Labour's policy U-turns is Labour's leadership carousel.
“Whether it’s Burnham, Streeting or another Labour lackey, the one guarantee is that the Westminster chaos will not end.
“Scotland needs the opportunity for a fresh start and only independence offers that chance to build a fairer, more prosperous future, free from this failing Westminster chaos.”
