Pressure on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is intensifying following a cabinet resignation and a renewed bid for parliament by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, as internal party divisions deepen after last week’s election losses.
Health Minister Wes Streeting has resigned from the cabinet, becoming the first senior minister to step down over lost confidence in Starmer’s leadership. In his resignation letter, Streeting stated: “It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election.”
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has unveiled a move to return to parliament. Burnham, who was an MP from 2001 to 2017, said he would seek to run for Labour in Makerfield after Labour MP George Simon announced he would resign to make way for him. However, Burnham is currently unable to mount a leadership challenge without a parliamentary seat. Labour’s National Executive Committee, which selects the party’s candidates, blocked Burnham from standing in an earlier by-election this year.
Both Streeting, who is popular on the right of the ruling Labour Party, and Burnham, considered more left-wing, stopped short of formally announcing they were running for the top job. Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is also expected to join the race. Reports revealed that UK tax authorities had cleared her of deliberate wrongdoing in a tax affair that had forced her to quit the government last September.
Last Thursday’s election results, which saw huge gains for Reform UK and the left-wing populist Greens, have compounded months of internal anger toward Starmer. Four junior ministers have since resigned, and scores of Labour MPs have urged Starmer to quit. He has refused, and at least 100 of his lawmakers have begged him to stay, alongside a number of senior ministers. The figure highlights bitter divisions emerging among the party’s 403 members of parliament.