Up to 200 Labour MPs are reportedly prepared to back Andy Burnham as the next British prime minister
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure from Labour MPs, party heavyweights and even cabinet ministers to step down as early as this weekend, the Guardian has reported, citing lawmakers and government sources.
Calls for Starmer’s resignation have grown since Labour lost nearly 1,500 seats in local elections in May. The pressure reportedly intensified after former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham won Thursday’s Makerfield by-election, a result seen by many in the party as a rallying point.
According to the Guardian, up to 200 Labour MPs – nearly half the party’s Commons contingent – would back Burnham if he launched a leadership challenge. The paper cited a cabinet source as saying some ministers are preparing to urge Starmer not to contest any leadership race.
“I think everyone thinks it is over and everyone wants it to be a dignified, orderly exit,” the source said. Senior Labour figures reportedly warned that Starmer could face intervention from his own cabinet next week if he refuses to resign or agree to a transition.
MPs told the newspaper ministers would try to persuade the prime minister to step aside over the coming days, adding that “almost everyone agrees” he should “do the right thing this weekend.”
In his victory speech, Burnham described the by-election as Labour’s “final chance” to build “a new politics,” warning there would be no second opportunity.
Starmer, however, insisted on Friday that he would contest any leadership challenge. “If there is a contest, just to be clear with you, then, yes, I will run,” he told reporters in London, arguing that a challenge would “plunge us into chaos.”
The prime minister’s popularity has slumped amid the cost-of-living crisis and fallout from the UK rape gangs scandal. A mid-June YouGov poll put his approval rating at 18%, with 74% of Britons viewing his premiership negatively.
An Ipsos survey published this week found Starmer’s favorability rating at 20%, with 58% holding an unfavorable view. Burnham, whom Ipsos described as Labour’s most popular politician among both party supporters and the wider public, recorded a 26% favorability rating, while 33% viewed him negatively.
