The UK’s political landscape sees another seismic shift today as Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation as prime minister, triggering a fierce contest for the leadership of the Labour party and the keys to Downing Street.
The Prime Minister, who spent the weekend at Chequers deliberating his future with family, is reportedly preparing to unveil his resignation strategy amid mounting pressure to step down.
Sir Starmer’s leading challenger Andy Burnham returns to Westminster as an MP today, fuelling speculation over how quickly the Labour leadership could change hands and who will take charge of the party.
Here, we look at what would happen next:
How do candidates enter the contest?
Labour’s rules mean even getting onto the ballot can be a complex process.
First, candidates must secure the backing of 81 Labour MPs, 20% of the party’s parliamentary strength.
They then need to receive nominations from either 5% of constituency Labour parties, or three affiliated organisations (which must include two trade unions) which represent 5% of affiliated membership.
Only after passing those two stages will candidates go before the party membership.
Who could stand in a contest?
Andy Burnham’s decision to stand in the Makerfield by-election – giving up the Greater Manchester mayoralty to become an MP – suggests he believes he has the necessary backing from the parliamentary party to get onto the ballot.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting has repeatedly insisted he has the 81 names required to mount a leadership bid, and has spent the weeks since his resignation setting out his stall.
Former Royal Marines officer Al Carns, who quit as armed forces minister in a row over defence funding and the treatment of Northern Ireland veterans, has also hinted he would seek to enter a leadership race, although it is unclear whether the MP – who was only elected in 2024 – has the supporters required to get on the ballot paper.
How would a Labour leadership contest work?
After a leadership hopeful nails down 81 backers in the Commons and support from constituency parties and trade unions, candidates are then put to a vote among party members, who rank them in order of preference.
A contender is declared the winner if they get more than 50% of first preferences, and this usually happens through a process of elimination during rounds of voting, the timetable for which is set by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).
How long will this take?
Labour’s NEC will set the timetable for the whole election, including how long potential candidates have to secure nominations and how long members will be able to vote.
The party’s last leadership contest, in 2020, ran for around three months, with nominations opening in early January and the result announced in early April.
NEC sources have previously suggested there is little appetite for a long contest, with a maximum of two months being floated.
But Mr Burnham’s supporters have suggested a “transition” period that would see the new leader take over in September, which would mean a longer contest.
What would a coronation look like?
Andy Burnham’s significant support among the parliamentary party could mean he ends up as the only candidate.
With no need for a membership ballot, that scenario could see the contest wrapped up within a matter of weeks or even days.
But given Mr Burnham’s apparent preference for a three-month “transition” period to allow him to prepare for government, it is unclear what would happen next in the event he was the only candidate.
Insisting on a transition would leave Sir Keir as a lame duck over a period that includes a Nato summit where countries are expected to set out plans to increase defence spending, and a UK-EU summit in Brussels seen as crucial to Labour’s attempts to reset relations with the bloc.
There is some precedent for such a coronation, however. Gordon Brown was the only candidate to receive enough nominations in Labour’s 2007 leadership election more than a month before Tony Blair formally stepped down as prime minister.
In that period, Mr Brown still attended leadership hustings around the country to set out his ideas and attempt to win over the public.
