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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to set out plans to step down as early as Monday, UK media has reported, as veteran politician Andy Burnham prepares to take up his seat in parliament and launch a likely leadership challenge.
Government ministers said the Labour leader was reflecting on his political future over the weekend.
Press gathered outside 10 Downing Street on Monday morning amid uncertainty over whether Starmer had made a decision. His office was unable to confirm timings for a potential press conference.
“I do not know if he has (made a decision). I know that… he has been thinking really hard about what is best for the country,” junior education minister Jacqui Smith told Sky News.
“I trust him to make the right decision,” Smith added.
Speculation that Starmer was on the brink of resigning comes as Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, is due to take up his seat in parliament days after clinching victory in the Makerfield by-election.
The emphatic nature of Burnham’s victory appears to have prompted a weekend re-think by Starmer, who had insisted he would fight any attempt to oust him.
Under Labour’s rules, the leader of the centre-left party must be a member of parliament.
The beleaguered leader “is expected to announce on Monday that he will step down as prime minister after overwhelming pressure from Labour MPs to make way for Andy Burnham,” The Guardian reported.
The BBC said “signs are growing” that Starmer could set out a plan to resign, while newspapers splashed with headlines like “Game Over.”
US President Donald Trump weighed in on Sunday, writing on Truth Social: “Keir Starmer will resign… He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well.”
The American leader had initially enjoyed a good rapport with Starmer before the Iran war ruptured the relationship.
If Starmer does leave office this year, Britain will get its seventh prime minister in a decade — an unprecedented rate of churn in its modern history.
The 63-year-old ex-lawyer, who took office in July 2024, has been clinging to power for months after a tenure littered with missteps, policy U-turns, scandals and ministerial resignations.
He was nearly ousted in March over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, an associate of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as UK ambassador to Washington. Labour’s drubbing in local and regional polls last month intensified the pressure.
Burnham, 56, made clear in his by-election victory speech that Labour had a “final chance to change.” He has provided little detail about his government plans if he wins power.
UK media reported he intends to replace finance minister Rachel Reeves while retaining interior minister Shabana Mahmood.
The Guardian reported Starmer and his inner circle were working on his resignation speech, with the most likely timetable seeing him stay in office until after the summer, with the new leader hailed at the party conference in late September.
