Labour MPs are being canvassed by potential leadership rivals to Andy Burnham, after the hot favourite to take over as British prime minister from Keir Starmer was sworn in to the House of Commons
The new Makerfield MP could be in Downing Street within weeks if a challenger does not emerge.
However, a handful of other outside-bet candidates have not ruled themselves out of the race and appear to be jockeying for position.
Supporters of Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, were said to be ringing around their Labour parliamentary colleagues on Monday night to gauge if he had enough support for a leadership bid.
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Al Carns, who quit this month as armed forces minister in a row over military funding, also appeared to set out his stall on Monday with an article in party-linked publication Labour List laying out his ideas on a range of matters.
He suggested on ITV’s Peston he was considering what to do before nominations for the Labour leadership open on July 9th.
“I’m not ready to make a decision on this in any way shape or form,” he said.
“What I would say is we need to move from the politics which talk through the tactics and actually think about the strategy and what I’m really looking for are big objective outcomes that we want to get to in 2029 and 2034-35”.
He said “we need to have a clear and concise discussion about what this country wants to be at the next general election and the general election after that”.
Foreign journalists were also invited to a hastily-arranged press conference on Tuesday morning with Carns. The event, called at just 18 hours notice, is being hosted by the Foreign Press Association, which billed it as a meeting with a “potential Burnham rival”.
Carns and Jones may struggle, however, to attract the 81 Labour MPs whose backing they would need to enter the race to replace Starmer. Burnham’s overwhelming support in the parliamentary party means there might not be enough MPs for other contenders.
Nominations for the leadership open on July 9th and close when parliament enters recess on July 17th. If Burnham is unopposed, he would then become prime minister.
Starmer said he will stay on until his successor is chosen.
members, before a new prime minister would take over at the start of September.
Burnham backer Nick Thomas-Symonds suggested a contest would not be in the best interests of the country.
The cabinet office minister told Sky News: “I just think we have to weigh up what is in the best interests of the country. I am of the view that it needs to be a swift transition but of course I understand colleagues have difficult decisions to make.”
Burnham will begin to set out his policy platform, pledging economic growth and a commitment to Labour’s existing fiscal rules in a speech next week.
Talks are also said to be taking place about who will sit in his cabinet, with energy secretary Ed Miliband and home secretary Shabana Mahmood both tipped as potential candidates to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor.
But Burnham’s allies said no jobs had been given and no deals had been made as of Monday evening.
Up to 200 Labour MPs – half of the parliamentary party – turned up in Westminster Hall on Monday afternoon to greet Burnham, hours after Starmer announced his intention resign in an emotional speech on Downing Street. Burnham confirmed he would seek to replace Starmer as Labour leader and UK prime minister.
Burnham’s potential path to Number 10 had been smoothed when his biggest rival for the leadership, former health secretary Wes Streeting, earlier said he would not run and threw his support behind the former Greater Manchester mayor.
Streeting denied that he had been offered a job by Burnham to stand aside, amid rumours that he did not have enough support to challenge him.
In his resignation speech at 9.30am at Downing Street, the UK prime minister became emotional as he paid tribute to his family.
He said six years ago he had inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt”, but he had turned its fortunes around.
Polls show he is deeply unpopular with voters, however and Starmer said he accepted the decision of his MPs that he should no longer lead them.
His last international outing is likely to be a July 7th and 8th meeting in Turkey of the Nato military alliance. A planned summit between the UK and European Union for July 22nd was postponed.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin commended Starmer for “resetting the Irish-British relationship as well as relations between the UK and the EU”. - Additional reporting: PA
