Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure to resign from senior cabinet ministers and a Labour peer following Andy Burnham’s decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election.
Lord Charlie Falconer, a former justice secretary under Tony Blair who also served as Starmer’s shadow attorney general, declared the Prime Minister has “absolutely no authority” and should step aside.
Falconer told the BBC’s Today Programme on Saturday morning that Starmer’s position was “completely unmaintainable” following Burnham’s emphatic triumph over Reform UK.
He added that the “mood and buzz” created by the new Makerfield MP is “very strong,” warning that a leadership contest would be “bad for the country.”
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has reportedly become the latest senior minister to urge Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure from Downing Street.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband and home secretary Shabana Mahmood had previously urged Starmer to resign, though both are reported to remain in the cabinet for now.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper also told Starmer he should set out a timetable for his departure, according to a report in the Times.
Starmer is expected to spend the weekend weighing up his future in conversations with family and allies, despite publicly insisting he will fight to defend his place in Number 10.
The Prime Minister is expected to contact cabinet ministers over the weekend, arguing that a leadership contest would be hugely damaging for the Labour Party ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
“If Keir has not set a timetable for his departure before next Tuesday’s cabinet, let’s see how many ministers are actually there,” one cabinet member told the Financial Times.
Burnham is due to meet Starmer at the start of next week, with allies claiming he will present the Prime Minister with a list of 200 MPs who would back him in a leadership contest.
Any leadership contender requires the backing of 81 MPs to trigger a formal contest to unseat Starmer as party leader and Prime Minister.
Burnham stormed to victory in Makerfield on Friday, warning that Labour has a “final chance to change” as he defeated Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon by 9,231 votes.
The result widened Labour’s vote share in the constituency by 9.6 per cent, significantly strengthening Burnham’s hand as a prospective leadership challenger.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned in May, has since launched attacks on the policy platforms of both Starmer and Burnham, and has said he has the backing needed to launch his own leadership bid.
Polling suggests Streeting is unlikely to beat either Burnham or Starmer in a ballot of Labour members, leaving Burnham as the clear frontrunner should a contest be triggered.
In a bid to bolster his economic credentials, Burnham consulted Richard Hughes, the former OBR chair who resigned over the leaked Budget, and ex-Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane.
Jim O’Neill, a Treasury minister under David Cameron who helped drive the “Northern Powerhouse” reforms around a decade ago, has also been called upon to advise Burnham on economic policy.
This push for economic credibility follows criticism of Burnham for claiming the government was “in hock” to the bond markets, remarks he has since rowed back from.
Burnham committed during the campaign to retain Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules, which include putting the current budget on course to be in balance or surplus within three years.