Aysu Biçer
19 June 2026•Update: 19 June 2026
Senior members of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet are expected to tell him later Friday that he should begin setting out a timetable for leaving office, following Andy Burnham’s by-election win, positioning him for a possible challenge to Starmer’s premiership.
According to The Times of London, Starmer will spend the day in a series of meetings and phone calls with ministers and ruling Labour MPs as he attempts to shore up support for his leadership.
However, multiple Cabinet figures are reportedly planning to tell him in person that his “time is up” and to push for what they describe as an “orderly transition.”
Some senior ministers have already made similar arguments, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
In the by-election, Labour's Burnham secured a clear victory, taking just over half of the vote.
He finished more than 9,000 votes ahead of the Reform UK candidate and increased his party’s share by around 20 percentage points. After the result, he said he would set out a “new path for Britain.”
The pressure on Starmer has intensified alongside the result, with reports suggesting that around 100 Labour MPs are now calling for him to step down.
Starmer has said he would take part in a leadership contest if one were triggered, though Burnham has not indicated he intends to launch such a challenge.
