Sir Keir Starmer is facing “a hard deadline” of Tuesday morning’s cabinet meeting to step down, insiders say, after a senior Labour peer said the prime minister had “absolutely no authority” and should go.
As the Labour leader spent the weekend taking soundings from ministers and MPs, The Independent has learnt that allies of Andy Burnham are plotting to ensure he is installed as Labour leader quickly, in a coronation rather than a contest.
Labour MPs are being called on to give their support to the former Greater Manchester mayor, while it is understood that approaches have been made to former health secretary Wes Streeting, urging him to strike a deal and not try to force a contest.
There is speculation that Mr Streeting could be named as chancellor if he agrees not to run against Mr Burnham – allowing the former mayor to take over from Sir Keir in September when parliament returns after the summer recess.
Charlie Falconer, who served as lord chancellor under Tony Blair, turned on Sir Keir, urging him not to fight for his leadership by forcing a contest.
“My advice, sadly, would be ‘Don’t stand’, he told BBC Radio 4, saying that a battle would be “bad for the country” and that the prime minister has “absolutely no authority” because it is widely assumed that Mr Burnham will take over.
One MP said: “A coronation would mean we could have a swift and orderly transition.”
Meanwhile, another senior source said: “Keir has until Tuesday morning’s cabinet meeting to provide a timetable for his departure. It’s his final chance to go gracefully and with some dignity, otherwise it will be brutal and humiliating for him.”
Sir Keir went into the weekend insisting he would fight a leadership challenge and run in a contest, but on Friday, transport secretary Heidi Alexander became the first senior minister, since Mr Burnham’s crushing Makerfield by-election victory over Reform last week, to tell the prime minister he needs to go.
Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, energy secretary Ed Miliband and home secretary Shabana Mahmood are all set to repeat their demand from a few weeks ago that he set a timetable for his departure.
Harriet Harman was also forthright, saying: “The herd is not just moving against Keir Starmer, it’s stampeding.”
Meanwhile, former home secretary Alan Johnson, another loyal Labour grandee, told Andrew Marr on LBC: “If I could speak to him now, I’d say ‘It’s over, Keir; Andy is going to stand and he’s going to win.’”
With pressure mounting on Sir Keir to go, Mr Burnham was taking the weekend off after an intense by-election campaign, as he prepares to return to parliament after almost a decade away. His supporters were contacting Labour MPs; some estimates suggest that more than 200 MPs now back him to become prime minister.
Ministers in Sir Keir’s government made it clear he should go – or accept the imminent end of his premiership.
One minister told The Independent they felt “reasonably good” because there is “a real sense of the uncertainty coming to an end”. Another minister said they were enjoying “the calm before the storm”.
Meanwhile, backbench MPs were making it clear to chief whip Jonathan Reynolds that change is “now inevitable”.
One MP noted: “There is certainly a hope we can get there – I think Keir Starmer is the main stumbling block still, remarkably. But even Alan Johnson says he should go.”
An ally of Mr Streeting also confirmed that talks are taking place for him to cut a deal and not run for the leadership: “They are having discussions, but not sure beyond that.”
There is a suggestion that Mr Streeting could be named as chancellor if he agrees not to run.
Independent MP Karl Turner, who is expected to be welcomed back into the Labour Party by Mr Burnham, said a contest is unnecessary. He told Sky News: “I am very hopeful that it doesn’t have to come to [a contest]. The election is, in my view, not necessary when one candidate is going to do an awful lot better than another candidate.
“The candidates I am thinking of are Wes Streeting, who is a man of real integrity who has a massive role to play in government.
“The other candidate is Andy Burnham, who absolutely smashed it in Makerfield.”
Bracknell MP Peter Swallow, who was one of 100 MPs to sign a letter calling on Sir Keir to go, said: “This is really difficult; it is a challenging moment, I won’t lie. I think it is the right moment for the prime minister to resign and hand over to somebody else.”
He said “the last straw” was the resignation of John Healey as defence secretary, and the delay in publishing and properly financing the Defence Investment Plan.
More in Common researcher Rhiannon McQuone said surveys of voters in Makerfield revealed that many who voted for Mr Burnham were doing it to “get Starmer out”.
But there were signs that the remaining loyalists around Sir Keir may seek to back Darren Jones as a new PM, to prevent a contest should Sir Keir step aside.
