By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-06-21 10:23:19 | Updated at 2026-06-23 21:02:09
2 days ago
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to set out his resignation timetable tomorrow, insiders have claimed.
The Prime Minister, who has been hunkered down at his grace-and-favour Chequers home this weekend, had insisted he would take the fight to Andy Burnham if the ex-Greater Manchester Mayor triggered a Labour leadership contest.
However, senior Labour figures now believe the Prime Minister could make a "clear statement" as early as Monday.
“He’s come up hard against the reality that the support isn’t there,” one Labour grandee told The Observer.
“The truth is everyone knows this is no longer a tenable proposition.
"There’s a sadness about it all, of course, but sometimes there’s just an inevitability in politics."
Mr Burnham, who romped to victory over Reform UK in Makerfield on Thursday, will be sworn in as an MP on Monday.
Sir Keir is expected to meet with Mr Burnham at some point next week.
Sir Keir was initially eyeing up a showdown with Mr Burnham in a Labour leadership contest.
Following the result in Makerfield, the Prime Minister insisted: "I will stand, and I've said repeatedly I'm not going to walk away."
He added: "The one thing we've got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other and tearing apart our party. That has never worked."
No10 also rejected reports Sir Keir is preparing to set out his resignation timetable.
Downing Street instead stressed the Prime Minister is getting on with the job.
However, Sir Keir is now widely accepted to go down in history as Labour's shortest-serving Prime Minister.
Sir Keir's stint in No10 currently stands at just 716 days, putting him behind Gordon Brown's 1,049 days in Downing Street.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Business Secretary Peter Kyle appeared to confirm Sir Keir is considering his position.
He told The People's Channel: "He's making time this weekend, as well as doing the job of Prime Minister, to reflect on the political challenges that our country faces, that he faces, and he will be making decisions in the interests of the country on the back of that.
"I can't predict the future. I am not his spokesperson. I'm not with him today. What I do know is that I spent quite a considerable amount of time with him on Friday.
"He asked lots of questions, always based in the interests of the country.
"He asked me very clearly what he felt in a whole degree of different circumstances and what the country was expecting from us as a party, him as a leader and us as a Government.
"He said that he wanted time this weekend to reflect on it. I mean, literally, I cannot say any more than that."
When pushed on whether this meant Sir Keir would resign tomorrow, Mr Kyle admitted the Prime Minister is expected to make a decision.
Mr Kyle added: "I've just said the process that's underway at the moment, and Keir will come back and make a decision.
"You always put the interests of the country first."
