Starmer 'amasses war chest' to fight Burnham and Streeting leadership challenge
Sir Keir Starmer has amassed a six-figure war chest to fund an attempt at seeing off a potential leadership challenge in the near future, reports claim.
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It has been reported that the Prime Minister has received support from an affluent set of private donors, despite earlier reports that he was struggling to raise the funds needed to defend himself.
The Times is reporting that Sir Keir has received promises of donations, and has sounded out potential staff for his campaign.
Starmer is facing a potential challenge from Andy Burnham should he win the Makerfield by-election, and his former health secretary Wes Streeting who has made clear he will join any leadership race.
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The Prime Minister is said to have around £100,000 in pledged donations, but other sources refused to put a figure on the war chest.
According to the reports, the war chest has been amassed in response to fears that Starmer will not be able to get money from unions affiliated to Labour.
“Keir won’t be able to rely on the unions,” an influential party insider said. “He will struggle for donations and the donors have already made that clear.”
Another said many donors who contributed to Starmer’s general election campaign were not willing to donate again.
Supporters of Starmer disputed that account, however, and questioned the likelihood of union support for a Burnham campaign.
A senior Labour source said: “I’m not sure the unions are going to be jumping to support a candidate backed by Ed Miliband, or donors support [Wes Streeting’s] campaign to get a cabinet job.”