Labour leadership pressure deepens as MPs fear seat losses under Starmer

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Labour leadership under pressure

Highlights

At least three more cabinet ministers are expected to urge Keir Starmer to set a departure timetable following mounting internal dissent after the Makerfield result.
Polling for Labour has fallen below 20 per cent, raising seat-loss fears among MPs and increasing support for Andy Burnham over Starmer as party leader.
Over 100 Labour MPs and trade union leaders have called for Starmer's resignation since last month's poor local and devolved election showing, intensifying leadership transition pressures.

Cabinet pressure builds after Makerfield result

As reported by Financial Times, Starmer is calling ministers to shore up support as senior figures in his cabinet and party increasingly signal that he should set a timetable for departure rather than fight on.

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is among the ministers urging him to leave with dignity, while Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood have already indicated that he should move on. At least three more cabinet ministers are set to press him to step down, according to people cited in the report, and Yvette Cooper has offered only limited support in recent weeks.

Starmer is still vowing to resist any leadership challenge and is warning that a contest could tear apart the Labour Party. People close to him say he has campaign infrastructure in place, including a website domain, office space and six-figure donations, although some cabinet insiders believe a negotiated exit is more likely than a leadership victory.

Andy Burnham is returning to Westminster after his Makerfield win determined to take the premiership, but he is said to prefer cabinet ministers to force the issue rather than launch the first move himself. Wes Streeting is also being discussed as a possible challenger, though some Labour MPs believe he could instead strike a deal with Burnham for a senior cabinet role.

Election fears reshape Labour calculations

More than 100 Labour MPs have called for Starmer to resign since the party’s poor local and devolved election performance last month, and trade union leaders are also saying he should not lead Labour into the next general election.

Those pressures are being amplified by electoral anxiety among Labour MPs, many of whom entered parliament after the party’s 2024 landslide. With the party’s polling now below 20 per cent, some MPs fear they could lose their seats by 2029 and increasingly see Burnham as a stronger electoral asset than Starmer.

The focus is now falling on loyalists such as Pat McFadden and Darren Jones, who are viewed by party figures as potential decision-makers in any effort to persuade Starmer to step aside. Rachel Reeves is also keeping her position unclear publicly, even as allies insist she is still backing the prime minister.

Starmer retains support from a small group of close allies, and he would be able to enter a leadership contest without securing the 81 MP nominations required of rivals. But even some of his supporters now accept that Burnham’s by-election victory is energising the party’s critics and making a contest, or an arranged transition, look increasingly hard to avoid.

Our earlier report on the Makerfield by-election explained how Andy Burnham’s decisive win was seen inside Labour as the catalyst for an imminent leadership showdown with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It also set out the party-rule mechanics and likely timetable for a contest, including expectations of coordinated pressure from MPs and the risk of ministerial resignations if Starmer refuses to outline a clear departure plan.

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