Starmer

Expected candidate in Makerfield byelection says party ‘needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust’Andy Burnham drew the battle lines for the future of the Labour party on Monday as the Greater Manchester mayor promised he would “change Labour” and win back the voters the party had lost.Burnham, who is expected to be Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, claimed it would be no ordinary campaign and said he would make it about national issues where Labour was failing, in a direct challenge to the prime minister. Continue reading...

Washington-based fund praises Rachel Reeves for aiming to cut budget deficit as it upgrades growth forecastsBusiness live – latest updatesThe International Monetary Fund has urged Britain to “stay the course” to cut government borrowing amid growing bond market concerns over a Labour leadership challenge.As Keir Starmer battles to cling on to power, the Washington-based fund said it was important to continue reducing the budget deficit “given market pressures and elevated implementation risks”. Continue reading...

Deputy PM says Andy Burnham would be ‘great addition to parliament’, but leadership row is an ‘own goal’ for LabourKeir Starmer is not about to set a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, David Lammy, one of the prime minister’s closest cabinet allies, has said, calling on Labour to get beyond the “spectacular own goal” of repeated leadership speculation.While allies of Starmer have suggested he is potentially willing to step aside if Andy Burnham wins next month’s Makerfield byelection and no other challenger emerges, Lammy insisted this was not being considered. Continue reading...

Ex-health secretary, who is expected to launch leadership bid soon, condemns ‘heavy-handed’ approachWes Streeting has launched a scathing attack on what he described as Keir Starmer’s “heavy-handed” leadership culture, which he claimed had stifled creative policy thinking in government.Streeting criticised the effectiveness of Labour’s first two years in power – all of which he has spent in cabinet – saying Labour “arrived in government underprepared in too many areas and lacking clarity of vision and direction”. Continue reading...

As continent faces tough headwinds, leaders are bearing brunt of delivering bad news to frustrated electorates“People hate you,” the adviser informed his leader. A think-piece in a daily newspaper noted that “almost everyone agrees on one thing: they don’t like him”.The recent disastrous set of local election results in the UK built on Keir Starmer’s longstanding reputational problem: only 11% of Britons believe he has been a good or great prime minister, and nearly 60% believe he has been poor or terrible, according to polling by YouGov. Continue reading...

Pressure is intensifying on Keir Starmer after Andy Burnham was given a route back to parliamentGood morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.Housing secretary Steve Reed has been on the media round this morning urging Labour colleagues to put the “country first, party second”, even as he admits Keir Starmer is “unpopular”. Continue reading...

Housing secretary Steve Reed says no one has numbers for challenge and Labour should row in behind prime ministerOne of Keir Starmer’s closest allies in the cabinet has conceded that the prime minister is “unpopular” but has insisted Labour should not repeat the same pattern of changing leaders that damaged the Conservatives.The housing secretary, Steve Reed, one of Starmer’s most loyal ministers and staunch defenders, told broadcasters on Friday that no one had the numbers to challenge him and the party should come together behind the prime minister. Continue reading...

A return to Westminster for Andy Burnham is far from guaranteed, while Starmer could fight a leadership challenge and winWhile Keir Starmer’s authority as prime minister feels terminally undermined after calls from MPs and departing ministers to step down, he remains inside No 10 – for now. So how, and when, might he be removed? Here are some possible scenarios. Continue reading...

Streeting, who is on the party’s right, had long been rumoured to be gathering support for tilt at leadershipUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has quit as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister, saying it would have been “dishonourable” to remain in post and that there should now be a contest for the Labour leadership.But Streeting, who is on the party’s right, will not immediately launch a challenge and said he wanted to see a leadership contest with a broad range of candidates – a suggestion that the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, could fight in the contest. Continue reading...

Despite slim majority of 528, many constituents of potential Labour leadership candidate seem rather fond of himUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting’s potential leadership bid has been the subject of mockery from figures within Labour, while the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s slapdown of the now former health secretary in the Commons on Wednesday went viral on social media.However, in Streeting’s parliamentary seat of Ilford North, his constituents seem rather fond of him and pleased with the prospect that their MP could get the keys to No 10. Lesley, who works in Tesco in Barkingside, said: “He’d be very good. He comes into Tesco’s a lot, he’s a nice man. He talks to all of us.” Continue reading...

The former deputy prime minister said she should be keen to ‘play my part’ in the event of a leadership contestFull report: Angela Rayner cleared by HMRC over tax affairs paving the way for potential leadership bidIn her interview with ITV, Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, said she would not be making a pact with Andy Burnham to challenge Keir Starmer. “I’m not doing deals or anything like that,” she said.Good morning. Today it looks as though the phoney Labour leadership contest that has been bubbling away at least since Sunday may finally turn into a real one. Westminster is braced for Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to announce that he is standing – although journalists are not yet 100% certain it will happen. Continue reading...

Health secretary’s move to force race sparks scramble on left of Labour for candidate to oppose himUK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting is preparing to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer on Thursday if the health secretary can secure the support of enough MPs to trigger a contest.Streeting’s move to force a race has sparked a frantic scramble on the left of Labour to find a candidate to oppose him, with Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner both possible contenders. Continue reading...

One of PM’s expanding cohort of critics in Labour party says policy programme ‘sums up where we have gone wrong’For Keir Starmer’s Labour critics, his second king’s speech, in which the government set out what it would do in parliament over the next 12 to 18 months, was a crystallisation of everything that was wrong with the prime minister’s strategy.Over 34 bills and three draft ones, Starmer set out a programme he said would “make this country stronger and fairer”. But the package, which included limiting trial by jury, reshaping the NHS and moving the country closer to the EU, fell short of what some in the prime minister’s party feel is needed to win back voters’ trust. Continue reading...

Wes Streeting is expected to launch a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer as soon as Thursday. News of the health secretary’s plans came during the king’s speech, derailing what was supposed to be another chance for the prime minister to reset the political agenda. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s head of national news, Archie Bland Continue reading...

King Charles unveils government agenda for the next year as PM faces leadership threat from within Labour• UK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, as the embattled prime minister looks to prove he can enact the scale of change being demanded by Labour MPs and voters.The prime minister unveiled his legislative programme for the next parliamentry session on Wednesday, a moment he hopes will persuade wavering Labour MPs he should remain in office. Continue reading...

Another ally of health secretary renews call for resignation of prime minister, who is due to deliver king’s speech• UK politics live – latest updatesWes Streeting has held talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street as an ally of the health secretary renewed calls for the prime minister to resign, saying his authority had “irretrievably ebbed away”.Streeting arrived in No 10 on Wednesday morning amid intense speculation over Labour’s leadership crisis and his own future within the party, before leaving approximately 16 minutes later without commenting to the media. Continue reading...

A number of the health secretary’s allies called for the prime minister’s resignation but Streeting has yet to call for a formal leadership challengeReport: Starmer given a lifeline after Streeting challenge fails to materialiseGood morning. There are two main events in the diary today. At this point, it is not entirely clear which will turn out to be more consequential.At 11.15am the king will arrive at parliament for the state opening. The king’s speech sets out the legislative programme for the next year. Kiran Stacey has a preview here. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: A leadership crisis once again grips Westminster, with the Labour party currently split, the prime minister may not last the weekGood morning. First as tragedy, then as farce. Once again, the UK is shrouded in political uncertainty as a deeply unpopular prime minister clings to power. It has become a familiar cycle in recent years: the wait to find out which perishable good will survive longer than our next doomed premier.Keir Starmer insists he is not leaving – a serious leader for a serious time – and will have been boosted by last night’s lifeline, when Wes Streeting’s challenge failed to materialise. However, his authority with Labour MPs remains weak. Each new resignation attempts to undermine his position. For now, Starmer remains in charge by default.UK politics | Keir Starmer will attempt to regain the political initiative today as his government announces a package of 35 bills for the next parliamentary session, covering everything from housing to immigration.World news| Donald Trump is due to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday evening, the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade, as he seeks to mend power and prestige weakened by the war in Iran.UK news | Nine in 10 UK millionaires are proud to live in Britain and three-quarters would be willing to pay more tax to ensure public assets get the funding they need, according to research.Middle East | The risk of some Gulf states becoming embroiled in a direct war with Iran has risen after it was reported the United Arab Emirates had secretly launched a major attack on Iran during the conflict.Health | After more than a decade of global consultation, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – a condition that affects one in eight women – has been renamed. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leaked draft statement says party ‘cannot continue on its current path’ under PMKeir Starmer will not lead his party into the next general election, Labour-supporting unions have predicted, in an intervention that threatens to further destabilise the prime minister after a damaging few days.The 11 Labour-affiliated unions – which include Unite, Unison and the GMB – are expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday saying “at some stage” the party will have to put a plan in place to elect a new leader. Continue reading...

Planned legislation includes housing, immigration and energy measures, and comes amid awkwardness with the palace over Charles’s roleKeir Starmer will attempt to regain the political initiative on Wednesday as his government announces a package of 35 bills for the next parliamentary session, covering everything from housing to immigration.The embattled prime minister will release details of dozens of bills that he intends to pass over the next 12 months, even as his own MPs line up to demand his resignation.Additional reporting by Caroline Davies Continue reading...

Downing Street insiders suggest health secretary does not yet have the support for a leadership pushUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer was increasingly confident that he had seen off the immediate threat to his job on Tuesday after a challenge from Wes Streeting failed to materialise despite several of the prime minister’s allies quitting the government.Downing Street insiders suggested that the health secretary did not yet have the required support from the 81 MPs he needed to formally launch a leadership bid after Starmer issued a ‘put up or shut up’ ultimatum to his cabinet. Continue reading...

PM accused of dragging heels on forcing tech firms to block transmission of nude photos on children’s phonesInternet safety and children’s rights campaigners say they have been frustrated for months by Keir Starmer’s lack of leadership on blocking child abuse images on children’s phones, speaking out after Jess Phillips resigned from the government saying she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”.The influential Labour politician was one of four ministers who quit on Tuesday and joined more than 80 MPs to have called for the prime minister to go. Continue reading...

Tepid cabinet support and a blunted No 10 operation are making it harder for the prime minister to face down criticsUK politics: live updatesThe last time Keir Starmer faced a threat to his leadership, his core team assembled in the cabinet room and persuaded ministers to fire off a succession of supportive tweets in an attempt to keep him in office. This time has been different.As the number of MPs calling for the prime minister to resign has grown over the last 48 hours, much of the cabinet has remained quiet. Continue reading...

Tensions are running high in Westminster as Keir Starmer tells his cabinet he is not going anywhere. But with several ministers quitting the government and more than 80 MPs calling for him to go, how much longer has the prime minister got?Lucy Hough speaks to political editor Pippa Crerar Continue reading...

Supporters of PM say it shows he has majority backing after more than 80 MPs call on him to quitUK politics live – latest updatesWho are the main threats to Starmer’s leadership?More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a statement saying this is “no time for a leadership contest” – as Keir Starmer told his cabinet he would not stand down while a formal leadership contest had not been triggered.The letter, coordinated by backbenchers, has been signed by 103 MPs, including parliamentary private secretaries. Organisers say it did not come from No 10, though MPs said it had been circulated by government whips. Continue reading...

Prime minister says process for challenging a leader has not been triggered and Labour should get on with governing• UK politics live – latest updates• Who are the main threats to Starmer’s leadership?Keir Starmer has told his cabinet he will not resign as prime minister, saying the threshold for a leadership challenge has not been met.In comments that effectively dared the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to launch a challenge against him, Starmer said he intended to get on with governing. Continue reading...