British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls from inside his own cabinet to announce a timetable for leaving office, following a decisive by-election victory by former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham that has accelerated pressure for a leadership change.
According to the BBC, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander suggested to Starmer that he set out a timetable to leave office during a phone call Friday. A spokesperson for Alexander declined to confirm the specifics of the conversation. "Heidi and the PM spoke this afternoon as part of wider cabinet calls. It was a private conversation and I am not going to reveal what was said," the spokesperson said.
Starmer spent part of Friday phoning cabinet ministers to gauge his level of support within the government. Chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke with the prime minister after the Makerfield result was announced and offered her full support. It is understood that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Starmer have not spoken since Burnham's by-election win.
Last month, following Labour's poor showing in local elections, both Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband had already urged Starmer to announce a resignation timeline.
Starmer has pushed back firmly on the pressure. Asked whether he would set a timetable for his departure, he told the BBC: "I was elected to serve my country with a mandate that we secured at a general election two years ago." He added that if a leadership contest occurs, he intends to compete. "if there is a contest, yes I will run. I will stand and I have said repeatedly I am not going to walk away from that," he said.
In a call with Labour party staff, Starmer urged the party not to fracture. "The one thing we've got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party and our movement. That has never worked. That's what the last government did. We need to learn that lesson," he said.
Allies of Burnham have urged Starmer to reflect over the weekend and listen to cabinet ministers and family members. Teams representing both Burnham and potential rival challenger Wes Streeting said they would not give media interviews over the weekend, in what appeared to be an effort to give Starmer time to reconsider his position.
Burnham is set to be formally sworn in as a Member of Parliament on Monday. A crunch point for Starmer could come the following Tuesday, when all senior ministers gather for the weekly cabinet meeting.
