Keir Starmer’s leadership has been dealt a severe blow over the past fortnight as almost 100 MPs said that he should set out his timetable to step down as prime minister. Several of his ministers, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, have resigned to trigger a contest to replace him.
Earlier on Tuesday, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, was selected as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election. He has been talked up by several Labour MPs as a potential successor to Starmer and as one of the few politicians in their party viewed positively by the electorate.
Reform UK, which is leading the polls in Britain, has pledged to “throw absolutely everything” at the by-election.
POLITICO has also reported that Healey’s junior defense minister, Al Carns, is being urged by MPs to consider a leadership bid. Two government officials suggested that he should not have written a frank post-mortem of Labour’s local election loss for the New Statesman last week.
Healey told the event that it has been a “difficult few weeks” and that “For Labour, the last 10 days has been tough,” as he warned that his colleagues have “turned in on ourselves.”
In a warning to those seeking to unseat Starmer, he said that he has “not forgotten the pains” of being in opposition, adding: “We must not throw away so lightly the power we were given.”
