LIVE: Starmer to deliver crunch speech as Streeting 'prepares leadership case' and Rayner backs Burnham
Labour has lost more than 1,400 seats, more than half of those it was defending in the local elections
Sir Keir Starmer is facing pressure from all sides after Labour's disastrous local election peformance - with stark warnings from powerful party figures in the wake of defeat.
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But the PM will promise sweeping changes to address the “big challenges” confronting the UK as he battles to save his job.
“To meet the challenges that our country faces, incremental change won’t cut it.“On growth, defence, Europe, energy – we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times," he will say on Monday.
It comes as his former deputy PM Angela Rayner on Sunday warned it’s Labour’s “last chance” to “show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for” after the party lost more than 1,400 seats across the country.
In an apparent swipe at Sir Keir Starmer, the MP said the Prime Minister “must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
Backing Andy Burnham, she said: "This is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake,” Rayner said on Sunday.
She added: "We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for - that means bringing our best players into Parliament - and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.”
It comes as calls grow for the PM to quit - with Labour MP Catherine West telling LBC a cabinet minister must launch a leadership bid by tonight or else she will tomorrow.
But Sir Keir has refused to quit, saying today he wants to stay Prime Minister for the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, Wes Streeting has allegedly told Sir Keir he is preparing a “case” to become the next leader and will reveal it to Downing Street as early as next week, according to the Telegraph.
The Health Secretary reportedly told No 10 that he is not planning to challenge Sir Keir directly, but is readying the “case” for a leadership challenge if it “all falls apart” and a contest is triggered by different candidate.
Labour lost more than 1,400 seats in Thursday's contest, more than half of those it was defending in these elections, and lost 37 councils.
While prominent Labour figures in Westminster have questioned Sir Keir’s position the Prime Minister has insisted he would not “walk away and plunge the country into chaos”.
Reform UK Nigel Farage has claimed the elections illustrated a “truly historic shift in British politics” after his party made huge gains.
Labour also suffered from voters switching to the Green Party as Zack Polanski said of the era of two-party politics “it not just dying, it is dead and it is buried”.
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Sir Keir Starmer's battle to hold onto power has begun.
The Prime Minister faced a day of chaos in Westminster on Thursday, in which:
- Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary and attacked his leadership.
- Andy Burnham was offered a route back to Westminster as MP for Makerfield after Josh Simons stood down.
- Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayne resolved her tax affairs with HMRC, clearing her to challenge Sir Keir.
WATCH: Makerfield voters weigh in on Burnham by-election
LBC callers in Makerfield have been weighing in on the upcoming by-election.
Some voters in the Greater Manchester constituency have spoken to LBC's Late Nights with Ben Kentish this evening...
Powell expected to repeat support for Burnham
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell is expected to say Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be “key players” in Labour’s team in a speech tomorrow.
Ms Powell will repeat her support for the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s bid to return to Parliament as Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election when she speaks at the Fire Brigades’ Union conference.
She is expected to say: “The election results last week were deeply painful and difficult for our party, and the aftermath has been unedifying for us all too. We don’t do hostile take-overs in Labour for a reason. Keir is the leader, and I warned against bloody internal battles reflecting badly.
“If we think we don’t have further to fall, that’s a mistake, we can. We must come back together as one team to take the fight to Farage and show that mainstream progressive politics can bring about the change people are crying out for.
“That also means doing politics differently. Ending briefing wars, ending factionalism, and representing all our traditions with our strongest team on the pitch – being one Labour team.
“Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be key players in our team.
“Andy wants to come back to Parliament – I’ve always supported his desire to do so, and I support that again. As deputy leader, I am confident he would have the support of the vast majority of the party and movement in doing so.”
By-election could open door to a Reform win
MPs have warned that the by-election may not be as clear cut as many within Labour had hoped.
With a slim majority of around 5,000, the margin has seen Farage pledge to throw everything he has behind the local reform candidate, after the party came in second place at the 2024 General Election.
Farage says Reform UK will 'throw absolutely everything' at winning Makerfield byelection.
Posting to social media, the Reform leader added: 'We look forward to the Makerfield by-election. Reform will throw absolutely everything at it.'
Andy Burnham 'most popular Labour politician in the country' Labour MP tells Andrew Marr
Labour MP Justin Madders has told LBC's Andrew Marr that Andy Burnham is the "most popular Labour politician in the country" and that he "can't think of anyone else who would be a better candidate."
The Mayor of Greater Manchester is planning his return to Westminster after Makerfield MP Josh Simons announced today he would be stepping down, therefore triggering a by-election which could clear Burnham's path to Downing Street.
Justin told Andrew the party is "not doing very well anywhere and we really need to have a change of direction".
The MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough said Labour will need to show the people of Makerfield that "not only will Andy be great MP for them... he would be a great Prime Minister.”
Bringing in a football metaphor, he likened the political turmoil currently gripping the Labour Party to the "FA Cup final, the Champions League final, the World Cup final all rolled into one...it is existential."
Starmer will not look to block Burnham from running
Keir Starmer will not seek to block Andy Burnham from becoming the Labour candidate in Makerfield, it is understood.
An ally of Starmer said: "Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families.”
It follows a speech earlier this year made by the Prime Minister, addressing Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), encouraging them not to allow him to stand in February's Gorton and Denton by-election.
McFadden praises Andy Burnham but calls by-election a ‘risky prospect’
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden warned that a by-election is "always a risky prospect".
Speaking to LBC's Andrew Marr, he said: “He's a big talent and I certainly don't want to come onto this programme or any other and say anything to the contrary.
"In my dealings with Andy Burnham, as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, he has a shared agenda that I share about getting young people into work, long-term sick and disabled people into work. We've had good conversations about that.
"The only thing I would say is that doing it in this route through an unnecessary by-election is always a risky prospect.
"History shows us that. And we mustn't be complacent about the voters here."