Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Monday that he will resign as prime minister, following intense pressure from Labour MPs to clear the way for Andy Burnham to take over as party leader.
On Sunday, business secretary Peter Kyle, speaking on behalf of the government, declined to discuss Starmer’s exact intentions but noted that the prime minister understood the “political realities” and would act in the nation’s best interests.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend there isn’t a process under way or that there aren’t forces challenging the prime minister’s leadership – that is obviously happening,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
For weeks leading up to the Makerfield byelection, which saw Burnham return to Westminster, Starmer and his team had insisted they would resist any leadership challenge, whether from Burnham or anyone else.
Downing Street repeated that position on Sunday, citing Starmer’s comments to reporters on Friday after Burnham’s victory, when he pledged to contest any attempt to unseat him.
Although Kyle admitted he was unsure “what the next few days will entail,” he portrayed Starmer as weighing his options carefully and considering how to avoid harming the national interest.
Kyle said he had spoken extensively with Starmer on Friday. “He was very conscious of what is best for the country, and during our conversation he repeatedly asked me what I thought the public wanted at this moment, given the circumstances.”
