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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to resign after Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election last week cleared a path for him to launch a leadership challenge.
Following the by-election results on Friday, Starmer repeated his intention to stay in Downing Street and pledged to fight any contest for Labour leadership.
“If there is a contest… I will run, I will stand. And I’ve said repeatedly, I’m not going to walk away from that,” he said.
Downing Street on Monday morning told TIME that the Prime Minister’s remarks from Friday still stand.
Burnham has received renewed support from lawmakers enthused by his win in Makerfield, prompting intense speculation over Starmer’s political future. Weekend reports said the Prime Minister is expected to outline a timeline for his departure on Monday.
On BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Business Secretary Peter Kyle strayed from Starmer’s repeated vow to stay on and fight. Instead, he said the Labour leader was taking time over the weekend to “try and reflect on the political challenges that he faces.”
Starmer was “taking the time to think through what the political realities are today, compared to last week, the week before,” said Kyle, insisting that the Labour leader will frame his decision based on what’s in the “best interests of the country.”
Kyle acknowledged there was “political uncertainty” and lessons for Labour to learn.
“The reality right now is that there is process under way, there are people who seek to challenge Keir,” added Kyle, who said he had shared a conversation with Starmer on Friday but declined to disclose what was discussed.
Hours after the Business Secretary’s remarks, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”
He argued the British leader had “failed badly on two very important subjects—immigration and energy,” doubling down on his long-argued stance that the U.K. should expand its drilling in the North Sea.
Although the two once shared a strong alliance, the relationship between Trump and Starmer has become increasingly splintered amid the fallout of the Iran war.
Read More: How the Iran War Is Splintering U.K.-U.S Relations as Trump Turns on Starmer
International inputs aside, Starmer’s vulnerability in the party he led to victory in the July 2024 General Election has been brewing for months.
Earlier this year, he faced tough questioning over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S., after newly-released government files showed he was warned of the “reputational risks” over Mandelson’s ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
More recently, following Labour’s poor performance in the local elections in May, dozens of lawmakers have called for Starmer to resign and set out a timeline for his departure.
Several ministers from Starmer’s government have stepped down in recent weeks, with some citing a lack of confidence in his ability to lead.
The top two defense officials in the U.K. resigned on June 11, accusing Starmer of failing to invest enough money into the country’s Defense Investment Plan (DIP).
Their departures followed the likes of former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who said it was “clear that [Starmer] will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election,” when he resigned in May.
Streeting is considered one of the top contenders that could replace Starmer, should the Prime Minister resign or be ousted.
The former Health Secretary last week claimed he has the backing of the 81 Labour lawmakers needed to trigger a leadership challenge and said he would be “prepared to do that” if the Prime Minister did not set a timeline for his departure after taking time to reflect on his position.
Streeting has previously held back from launching a challenge, stating his intention to give former Manchester Mayor Burnham the chance to secure a route back to Westminster so that he too would be eligible to take part in any contest.
Burnham, during his victory speech on Friday, said “everyone knows that politics isn’t working” and suggested his win could be a “turning point.”
He referred to the moment as “a final chance to change” for the Labour Party and advocated for the building of “a new politics based on unity and hope.”
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