UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces more questions over leadership | BBC News

The UK Prime Minister faces another day of questions over his future.The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, says she's against replacing Sakhir Starmer.Josh Simons, the MP who stood down to make way for the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, to challenge for the leadership, says that a victory for the party in the by -election would mean the end of Sakhir Starmer.Well, a leadership contest has not yet been triggered, but the former Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham have made it clear that they want to become party leader.Well, our political correspondent Harry Farley looks at the key messaging.

Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, a serving government minister.And I think in her interview, you got a bit of a sense of just what an unusual period of British politics we're entering.Because on the one hand, the Prime Minister has repeatedly said that he would fight any leadership contest if and when one comes, that he is not going to stand aside or set a timetable for his resignation.And so Lisa Nandy, as a serving government minister, on the one hand, has to be loyal to the Prime Minister.But I think we got a sense in her answer how the focus of the Labour Party is shifting away from Keir Starmer onto what comes next.And she was asked on Laura Kunzberg whether she thought the Prime Minister would step down.

I wouldn't write off the Prime Minister, but I would just say that this is a very personal decision.He's got to make that decision himself.And I think it's the job of the entire Cabinet and the entire Labour movement, to be honest, to get on with making sure that we win this by -election in Makefield, that we have Andy Burnham, who is an outstanding advocate for the Labour movement back in Parliament at the heart of power, and that we make sure that we get on with delivering the change that people wanted to see.

So there you have a serving Cabinet Minister asked about the Prime Minister's future, not giving a categorical answer that he would still remain in office, saying it was a personal decision for him.And then going on to say Andy Burnham.who has been quite explicit about his desire to be in Downing Street to take over from the Prime Minister, saying that he is an outstanding advocate and needs to be back at the heart of power.So I think that gives you a bit of an indication of the very strange period of British politics that we're about to be entering.And you mentioned Andy Burnham campaigning.He is hoping to be the Labour candidate in Makefield.

Not yet confirmed, but expected to be so this week.The person who stepped aside for him, Josh Simons, is still the Labour MP for Makefield, but is stepping down to make way for Andy Burnham.He gave his justification for why he did that.

This was not an easy thing to do and I wouldn't have done it unless I really, really believed at the end of the day that this was in the best interests of the Labour Party, my community and most importantly the country.And let me tell you from having been on the ground in the constituency, in my constituency in the last two days, people broadly agree.There are some who say, well, that's a bit of a risk.What if you lose?But actually, most people say, this is a chance for us to be at the heart of history, to change the Labour Party for good, and to send someone down to Westminster who's got a big agenda for changing Westminster and Whitehall.And they are happy about that.

course, Josh Simons, a former government minister who had to step down after an investigation at his former job, where he led the pro -Starmerite think tank, the pro -Kiar Starmer think tank Labour Together, after they launched an investigation that looked into the personal details of some journalists at the Sunday Times.So Josh Simons, the MP, now stepping down for Andy Burnham.And that gives you an indication of how some people in the Labour Party have shifted, that that is a man who led a think tank campaigning for Keir Starmer's leadership now making way for his leadership rival in Andy Burnham.

I said it was a fluid situation didn't I?The opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, has also appeared on Laura Koonsberg's programme and what did she say?

a couple of weeks ago, still losing seats that they held in Scotland, Wales and in England.But she gave her reaction to the possibility that Andy Burnham might take over as Prime Minister.

We need to start settling these arguments before people come into office.Politicians need to be able to make difficult decisions.And if you just want to come in saying you'll do nice things and not talk about the tough stuff that you have to do, you will become unpopular.I predict that if Andy Burnham wins and becomes leader, he'll become unpopular very quickly because he's going to have to do some difficult things.

So I think we're in for a pretty bumpy few weeks in British politics ahead.And we should say, of course, that we heard yesterday from West Streeting setting out his leadership vision, setting out why he thought Britain should at some point rejoin the European Union.And we should be careful about saying it is a foregone conclusion that Andy Burnham will win that seat in Greater Manchester.Because, of course, remember, It is a seat that reform did extremely well in at last week's elections, or 10 days or so ago, winning all the council wards in that particular patch of Greater Manchester in Makefield, in the Makefield constituency.So it is a big fight for Andy Burnham to take on and to try and come back to Westminster.There is a view across different wings of the Labour Party, certainly

not a consensus, but a view emerging that if he wins that by -election, it's essentially a proof of concept that he can be someone who can defeat reform in an area of the country where Nigel Farage's party has done very well indeed.Then there will be certainly a big body of opinion that will want to make him the leader as the Labour Party tries to take on Reform UK in the build -up to the next general election.No consensus about that, but I think that will be the big pressure for him.from different wings of the Labour Party certainly in the weeks to come.

Thanks to Harry Farley there.Ava Santina -Evans, the political editor for Politics Joe, and James Heal, the deputy political editor of The Spectator, talk me through the rather fluid situation in UK politics.

Well, it's interesting, isn't it, listening to Lisa Nandy this morning, because she didn't put her entire weight behind Andy Burnham, which was rather surprising to me, because you would imagine that he's very much in her sort of vein of politics, her side of the party.And I was thinking about this just a moment ago, and I wonder if it's because there's a concern that perhaps Andy Burnham might not win the seat.As your political correspondent just mentioned there, reform had done very well in the local elections just recently.However, you could argue that was a referendum on Keir leadership and potentially people might turn back to Labour if it is Andy Burnham running.I think there are concerns when it comes to the Labour Party and whether they can actually win in that seat, especially if the Greens are running.If you have five parties all competing in that seat and everyone is throwing all of their weight behind it, it could be a very tricky by -election indeed.

We have a caveat to underline how fluid the situation is.Andy Burnham has not yet been selected.The NEC has approved him.My understanding he hasn't been selected.James, what happens if he does get selected as the Labour candidate and he doesn't win?What happens?

Well, yes, as you say, I think Thursday is when it's going to happen.the selection date for the local constituency Labour Party.And then we'll obviously enter the kind of four -week campaign, where we will see that frenetic campaign up until 18th of June.If he doesn't win, I think that could be existential for Labour.I mean, this would be their most popular politician, the only politician they have who's in positive approval ratings across the country, being parachuted in to fight a seat that they won very convincingly in 2024.And if they can't win here with that man on the ballot, I think there are some real risks about sort of Labour potentially crumbling everywhere.

You'll see some deep questions being asked about the Labour philosophy, the Labour machinery.And that's why I think that everyone in Labour is saying this is a must -win by -election if Andy Burnham is on the ballot.

There's a lot of ifs and caveats and buts.And like I keep saying, it's a very, very fluid situation.But Ava, when it comes to Wes Streeting, he has said that he would still take part in any contest for the prime ministerial position.He would challenge Andy Burnham.I wonder, is he in a position to do so?Because he didn't have the numbers to trigger a leadership contest just a few days ago.

Yes, and the argument that was being made on the Friday by people who were closer to Wes Streeting was that actually he wanted a proper competition.He didn't want to be quote unquote crowned prime minister if not all of the candidates, you know, were eligible for the fight.He wanted to beat Andy Burnham essentially in a contest so that he could be in his mind the rightful.Prime Minister.But you know, as you said, I mean, I was hunting around Parliament for the names who were allegedly on Wes Streeting's 81, you know, spreadsheet list of MPs who were backing him to challenge the leadership.And truly, I could not add up those names, no matter how hard I tried.

So I think that there was, you know, there's a little bit of rowing back going on.Butto be for the next six months and is Starmer still going to be the Prime Minister in two years' time?You know, it really does feel very much all to play for.

Well, on that note, I want to get to that in a minute, what kind of position Sir Keir Starmer is, because we are looking potentially at a long time lag and he is still leader, but James, just in terms of a potential leadership contest, so we've got possibly if Andy Burnham does win that, and there are so many caveats, aren't there, if he does win the by -election, We're streeting if he gets the numbers behind him.Angela Rayner, potentially, is she still a potential challenger?And if this does happen, what does that do to the Labour Party, James?Because they didn't want the psychodrama that the Conservatives had, but they're going through it potentially.

Yeah, I mean, they may not have wanted it, but they have ended up in this situation.And that is partly because of the sense of jitters, the sense of everything falling apart much quicker than expected, but also Keir Starmer's own failure as a political leader, his own lack of politics, which have come back to haunt the party with whom they made a Faustian pact to to put a man without politics into number 10.In terms of the next few months or so, it's going to be a very weird game.I've been quite struck in the last couple of days how silent a lot of the cabinet have been.There hasn't been a great rush to declare their colours to one master or another.I suspect the main focus will be that by -election on 18th June.

If Andy Burnham does win there, my sense is that he would.unlike West Streeting, have the numbers 80 immediately to go.And I suspect that a win for Andy Burnham on the 18th of June would be the equivalent of the Paris Metro, where the buttons are pressed for the train to be called, all the lights would light up at once, and suddenly Keir Starmer and his exit would be paved.It's very striking to me how very much the Prime Minister seems to be a passenger in all of this.He is very much taking a back seat.There's reports this weekend about him potentially setting out a timetable to go.

And I think the last 72 hours, it's clear that the party, which was in his hands and his machinery as recently as January when they blocked, and he burned them the first time, is no longer Keir Starmer's party to lead.

So on that note, Ava, with all of this going swirling around, there's an awful lot going on globally.I don't need to understate that.How can Sakir Starmer lead a country?How can he be prime minister when all of this overshadows everything that he does?

Well, perhaps it might be sensible for the Prime Minister to rule himself out of any potential leadership contest.One thing that Starmer is very good at doing is foreign policy, concentrating on what is going on on the world stage rather than getting involved in domestic policy.And actually, arguably, some of his critics have said if he spent more time looking domestically, he possibly wouldn't be in the trauma that he currently finds himself in.So perhaps he goes off and he goes and meets world leaders and he secures proper deals.He reopens the Strait of Hormuz and he settles.overseas or somehow gets involved in that ceasefire that currently is ongoing in Lebanon.

You know, that would put him as the sort of the sensible prime minister that he'd like to pitch himself as rather than getting involved in the day -to -day inner machinations of the Labour Party politics.