British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to outline the timetable for his departure on Monday, reports said, kicking off a process that will lead to the country’s seventh leader in a decade.
Andy Burnham, the former Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, is the favorite to replace Starmer after winning a special election in north-west England last week that would see him return to parliament.
After that result, Starmer initially vowed to fight any leadership challenge. However, speculation that Starmer could now leave intensified over the weekend.
A number of senior UK government ministers have reportedly called on the prime minister to outline an exit plan, including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
A crushing defeat in last month’s local elections, combined with persistently poor opinion polls, has steadily eroded the Prime Minister’s authority over the ruling Labor Party.
Starmer’s resignation would clear the way for Burnham – who is due to be sworn in as an MP later on Monday – to succeed him as Labor leader and UK prime minister.
Burnham’s landslide victory in last week’s Makerfield by-election further strengthened his position in the party, making a leadership contest unlikely and leaving him poised to enter Downing Street unopposed.
US President Donald Trump told TruthSocial post on Sunday that Starmer would step down.
“He has failed miserably on two very important issues – IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OIL IN THE OPEN NORTH SEA!),” Trump said in a statement.
The a pound was last seen down 0.23% against the dollar, trading at $1.3202. Yield on 10-year UK government bondsknown as Gilts, was unchanged at 4.8452% early Monday.
Burnham faces familiar financial problems
Lizzie Galbraith, a senior political economist at Aberdeen, said that while Burnham now benefits from being outside Westminster by representing “something different” in the eyes of voters, he will still inherit the same complex financial constraints that hampered the Starmer government’s agenda.
Great Britain gilding gives jumped up on Friday after Burnham won the by-election. However, he tried very hard competitive markets most recently, distancing himself from previous statements in which he suggested the UK was in a “bond market grip”.
“In the short term, Burnham will be more focused on winning the confidence of the markets rather than departing too radically from the current policy agenda, particularly in the area of fiscal policy that has been set out by Keir Starmer and (Chancellor) Rachel Reeves,” Galbraith said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, warned that markets were taking a dim view of Burnham’s approach to discretionary spending given the UK’s “distressed” financial state.
“The question for the markets is what will really change. Does Burnham, who already has coup form, have the willpower to chart a more dynamic course than the drift exhibited during Starmer’s tenure?” Beauchamp said.