British Prime Minister Keir Starmer may voluntarily resign in favour of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, The Daily Telegraph reported.
On 14 May, Burnham announced his candidacy for the by-election for the House of Commons (lower house) in the constituency of Makerfield in northern England. On 15 May, the National Executive Committee of the ruling Labour Party approved his nomination. The by-election is expected to be held on 18 June after the current Labour MP, Josh Symons, who represents Makerfield, announced his resignation to allow Burnham to enter parliament. If he wins the election, Burnham will be eligible to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. All senior members of the UK government are members of parliament.
In January, Burnham tried to stand for the Gorton and Denton constituency in Manchester, but the Labour Party leadership blocked his nomination. Labour ultimately lost that election. According to Sky News, Burnham's refusal to run for the House of Commons was due to concerns that, once elected, he might try to unseat Starmer as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister.
According to sources in The Daily Telegraph, Starmer is considering “all options” and could resign voluntarily, despite his public declaration of readiness to fend off any challenge to his leadership. This scenario is possible if different factions within the Labour Party consolidate around Burnham, the newspaper added. It is also noted that Starmer will not resign until the results of the by-election in Makerfield are known.
A political crisis erupted in the United Kingdom after the local elections held on 7 May. After the elections, the Labour Party lost control of the Welsh Parliament for the first time. It won 1,400 fewer seats in various legislative bodies than before. Starmer accepted responsibility for the election defeat, but refused to resign as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
To begin the process of changing the leadership of the Labour Party, a member of its House of Commons, with the support of 20% of the party membership (81 MPs currently), must submit a written application to the party's general secretary. Party members then vote for their preferred candidate. If a new leader of the ruling party is elected, that person will automatically become the head of government, without the need for a general election.
According to Sky News, more than 90 MPs from the ruling party have already voted for Starmer to resign. On Thursday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned. He said he did so because he had lost confidence in Starmer. Media reports have identified Streeting as one of those who may try to oust Starmer.