A Cabinet ally of Keir Starmer has stopped short of denying reports that the Prime Minister could be preparing to resign as early as tomorrow, amid mounting speculation over his political future.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle declined to dismiss claims that Sir Keir may announce on Monday that he is stepping down from Downing Street.
According to reports, the Prime Minister has concluded that his position may no longer be sustainable following discussions with Cabinet ministers, senior No 10 aides, union figures and influential Labour donors.
However, sources maintained that Sir Keir, who is understood to be spending the weekend at Chequers discussing his future with his wife Victoria, has not yet reached a final decision.
Mr Kyle acknowledged that Sir Keir was taking time to reflect on “the political realities and challenges” after Andy Burnham’s decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election, a result that has intensified pressure from Labour MPs for the Prime Minister to stand aside.
Sir Keir is now facing significant pressure to outline a departure timetable and clear the way for Mr Burnham, potentially through a smooth succession for the former Greater Manchester mayor.
In a round of Sunday morning television appearances, Mr Kyle said he was not “delusional” about the situation, adding that “there is no process, there are no forces at work which are challenging the PM as leader – that is clearly the case”.
He also conceded that he did not know “what the next few days will entail” as Sir Keir weighs whether to bring his two-year premiership to an end.
But while the PM considers his position, it is not yet known if Mr Burnham will succeed him unchallenged or whether Labour MPs will insist on a leadership contest against a rival such as Wes Streeting.
As Britain prepares for a seventh different PM since the Brexit referendum a decade ago:
One of Keir Starmer’s Cabinet allies has failed to deny claims that Keir Starmer is poised to quit tomorrow amid feverish speculation about the Prime Minister’s future.
Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, did not knock back reports that Sir Keir will announce as early as Monday that he is leaving Downing Street
Mr Kyle confirmed that Sir Keir was reflecting ‘on the political realities and challenges’ in the wake of Andy Burnham’s thumping win in the Makerfield by-election
Quizzed about the reports the PM is planning to announce his resignation, Mr Kyle told Sky News: ‘I have nothing to believe that they are true. I’m seeing a lot of speculation out there.
‘The only thing I can say with fact is that the Prime Minister is hard at work, as he is every day – he is one of the most hard-working people I’ve ever come across.
‘Today, as in every other day I have ever known Keir, he is out there working hard.
‘At the same time he is also trying to create the space where he can think and reflect on the political realities and challenges and the opportunities that lie before us.’
Asked if Sir Keir had now come to the conclusion it is in the interests of the country for him to resign, Mr Kyle added: ‘All I know for fact is that he is engaging in conversations with a wide range of people, including myself.
‘He is, as well as working really hard over this weekend, I think he is making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.
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‘I think that is what people would expect him to be doing at this moment in time.’
Downing Street on Saturday night responded to the reports that Sir Keir is poised to quit by insisting the position was unchanged from Friday, when the PM vowed to fight on and said that he would not walk away from a leadership challenge.
Sir Keir said then: ‘If there is a contest, yes, I will run. I have said repeatedly I am not going to walk away from that.’
But, asked in a later TV interview if it was still true that Sir Keir would fight any challenge to his leadership, Mr Kyle would only say: ‘Well he’s fighting for our country.
‘And today he is hard at work as he has been every day that I have known him as leader of the Labour Party and PM.
‘He is also making time this weekend to try and reflect on the political challenges that he faces, our country faces, our party faces.’
Pressed again on whether Sir Keir was still planning to fight a leadership challenge, Mr Kyle told the BBC: ‘These are decisions for Keir to make.
‘That’s why I said that he is taking the time – as well as dealing with all the issues that a PM deals with over a weekend, a very busy weekend – that he’s also taking the time to think through what the political realities are today compared to last week, the week before.
‘But I know that he is a PM who always put the country first and he will be framing every decision he makes today on behalf of the country in his day-to-day job as PM, but also when he thinks about the party going forward, it will always be about what’s in the best interests of the country.’
Mr Kyle admitted there was ‘clearly political uncertainty’ when quizzed about whether Sir Keir is thinking about setting out a timetable for handing over power to Mr Burnham.
He added that the Government would make sure that ‘whatever unfolds’ in the coming days will be a ‘functional process’ whereby the Labour Party puts the ‘interests of the country first and foremost’.
‘Now, I can’t predict the future,’ he added. ‘I don’t know what’s going to unfold in the days that lie ahead.
‘I don’t know the decisions that he will make on behalf of our country as he considers these issues, and then makes decisions.
‘But we will find a way for this to be whatever unfolds, a functional process, one where the Labour Party is seen to put the interests of the country first and foremost, and we will carry on delivering for this country through whatever does unfold in the days ahead.
‘That’s because Keir demands it.’
Sources insisted Sir Keir, who is this weekend discussing his future with his wife Victoria at their country retreat Chequers, had yet to make a final decision
As he spent Sunday at Chequers considering his premiership, Sir Keir took the time to post on social media about Father’s Day.
He wrote on X: ‘Being a dad is my greatest joy. ‘Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him. Happy Father’s Day.’
A Labour peer claimed the PM would not ‘walk away’ from Downing Street and create a political vacuum. Instead, he would ‘arrange a slow march as a matter of duty and dignity’.
Mr Burnham, who trounced Reform UK at last week’s by-election in the Greater Manchester seat, will be sworn in as an MP tomorrow.
Sir Keir is under pressure to make his intentions clear before Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting. Another Labour grandee said: ‘He’s come up hard against the reality that the support isn’t there.
‘The truth is everyone knows this is no longer a tenable proposition. There’s a sadness about it all but sometimes there’s just an inevitability in politics.’
