Defiant Keir Starmer rejects calls to face down as Labour rivals draw battle strains
Keir Starmer said he was determined to fight the next election and would not walk away if potential challenger Andy Burnham wins a route back to Parliament in a pivotal by-election
Keir Starmer said he would not walk away despite calls for him to set out a timetable to go(Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Defiant Keir Starmer rejected calls to set out a timetable to stand down as his rivals openly jostled to replace him.
The Prime Minister said he was determined to fight the next election and said he would not walk away if potential challenger Andy Burnham wins a route back to Parliament in a pivotal by-election. Mr Starmer spoke out after fevered speculation about his future following the week from hell where dozens of his own MPs called for him to quit.
Speaking as he visited Home Cafe and Kitchen in Kensal Rise, north west London, Mr Starmer said: “I do want to fight the next election. Obviously, I recognise that after the local election results, the elections in Wales and Scotland as well, that the first task is obviously turning things around and making sure that my focus is in the right place.”
Asked if he would fight a leadership contest, he said: “We’re not at that position … but I’ve said, I don’t know how many times, that I’m not going to walk away.” Pressed on whether he would make way for Mr Burnham if he wins a Commons seat, he said: “I’m not going to do that.”
The PM is battling to get back to business as usual after his premiership teetered on the brink of collapse following Labour’s local election mauling. But his grip on power is being tested as rivals draw battle lines in a shadow contest to replace him.
Mr Burnham is gunning to return to Westminster through a by-election in Makerfield next month, after Josh Simons quit as MP for the North West constituency to smooth his path. The Greater Manchester Mayor is expected to mount a leadership challenge if he wins the seat – but faces a tough fight with Reform UK to secure victory.
Today, he mounted a brutal attack on Mr Starmer, saying Labour’s offer to voters had “simply not been good enough”. Mr Burnham told an audience in Leeds: “I’m clear about what I am offering. If I get to stand, a vote for me will be a vote to change Labour, because Labour needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust.
“It will be a vote to make life more affordable again, a vote to power up places, a vote to reindustrialise.”
Mr Burnham toned down previous calls for Brexit to be reversed as he drove a wedge between himself and potential rival Wes Streeting. He said: “My view is that Brexit has been damaging, but I also believe the last thing we should do right now is rerun those arguments. Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other.”
It comes as Labour tensions exploded after Mr Streeting floated the idea of rejoining the European Union on Saturday. Mr Streeting, who is also expected to fight in a leadership contest, said leaving the EU was a catastrophic mistake. He added: “It’s left us less wealthy, less powerful and less in control than at any point before the industrial revolution.”
The former Health Secretary, who quit on Thursday with a savage attack on Keir Starmer, said: “We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe, and one day, one day, back in the European Union.”
His comments are awkward for Mr Burnham, who is trying to win in Brexit-backing Makerfield.
The Greater Manchester Mayor played down comments he made at Labour Party conference last year, when he said: “I hope it (rejoining the EU) happens in my lifetime. I believe in the unions of all kinds. The union of the UK. The European Union, and the benefits it brought this country.
“Trade unions… People prosper more when they’re part of unions. That’s my belief, and I’ll say it clearly.”
Earlier, Deputy PM David Lammy warned Labour MPs to stop the “sixth form debate” about Britain’s future. He said: “Ten days of this, fine, I think the British people will forgive us the introspection. Ten weeks of this we’ll be in desperate trouble and all we’ll be ushering in is Farage.”
In a warning to colleagues, he said: “Introspection, internecine warfare? Effectively, some of our colleagues are lighting the match and standing in the petrol. That is not going to deliver on behalf of the British people.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper also issued a warning over briefing wars within her party. At a PLP meeting in Parliament on Monday evening, she told Labour MPs they will be “serious debates” after its dire local election losses, but added: “But I would also say, based on nearly 30 years in Parliament, that the way in which we debate matters.
“When it is being reported that ‘the things Labour people are saying about each other are unprintable’, I would just say, frankly, I don’t care who you are in our party, and what you think the answer is for the future, we treat each other with respect. And above all we show respect to people across the country who rely on us to keep focusing on the things that matter most to them.”
The by-election in Makerfield will be an existential test for Labour as Mr Burnham sets out to prove to MPs and voters than he can stop the march of Reform. Labour is defending a majority of 5,399 votes but Reform picked up 50.4% of votes in council wards in the constituency in the local elections. That was more than double Labour’s 22.7%, while the Greens got 10.9%.
But a Labour source on the ground said there had been a good response to Mr Burnham so far. The source said: “There’s a notable number of people who said they voted Reform in local elections in Wigan but would vote for Andy so he has a strong personal vote there. We’re seeing that across the constituency.
“Restore are coming up a bit so we wonder how they’ll affect Reform. No one is mentioning the Greens.”
