Sir Keir Starmer is facing a furious backlash from his own MPs after warning that a leadership challenge against him would plunge Britain into “chaos,” with backbenchers branding the comments “insane” and “mental” just days before a by-election widely seen as a referendum on his future.
Speaking to the BBC, Starmer vowed to fight any challenge mounted by Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor standing as Labour’s candidate in Thursday’s Makerfield by-election. “I’m not going to go away,” Starmer said. “I don’t think we should plunge the country into the chaos of a leadership election. I don’t think it should happen, but if it does, then I will fight. That’s not about personal vanity. It’s not about stubbornness. It’s out of a very deep sense of duty.”
Starmer argued that whoever succeeded him would face the same underlying difficulties he has confronted in office. “Whoever is prime minister is going to face the same prevailing winds as I am facing, none of that is going to change,” he said. “For every answer that is being suggested, the question has to be, when you’re in government, which is about trade-offs, what is it then that you wouldn’t do? Because easy answers are by their nature easy. Decisions in government involve trade-offs.” He took a further swipe at Burnham and former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, saying he had been “concentrating on the job I was elected to do” while they had “made their own case” to replace him.
The reaction from Labour’s own benches was swift and scathing. One MP responded: “As opposed to his chaos-free leadership?” Two separate MPs described the Prime Minister’s position as “mental,” with one adding: “I don’t know what’s in the water at No. 10, but they need to get it checked ASAP.” A fourth backbencher called Starmer’s obstinacy “utterly insane,” demanding he “recognise the game is up” for both himself and Chancellor Rachel Reeves “for the sake of his family, for the sake of the party, and for the sake — most importantly — of our country.”
The interview also saw Starmer confronted with his own past words. He had previously accused Liz Truss of being “in denial about the turmoil she was causing” during her own leadership crisis — a comparison now being drawn against him by critics within his party.
It is understood Starmer will not travel to Makerfield to campaign for Burnham, despite previously saying he wanted “to be part” of the effort. Burnham is due to make his final major intervention of the campaign on Wednesday with a speech in the constituency ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Any formal leadership challenge from Burnham or Streeting would require the backing of 81 Labour MPs, according to GB News, though more than 100 MPs publicly backed Starmer when he last faced calls to step down. A YouGov poll of Labour members reported by The National found Burnham leading Starmer 59 per cent to 37 per cent in a hypothetical head-to-head, with only 28 per cent of members believing Labour could win the next general election under Starmer’s leadership. Political analyst Catherine Haddon cautioned against viewing Burnham as a cure-all, telling an Institute for Government seminar: “Even if he wins, it’s not that easy to just come in and fix government. The expectation management that Andy Burnham is facing is massive and it’s going to be a huge problem for him.”
Reform UK is reportedly preparing for the possibility of an early general election should Starmer be ousted, with the party’s leader Nigel Farage warning that a change of Labour leader would “probably” force such a vote. The Makerfield contest itself has been complicated by the presence of Restore Britain, the hard-right party led by Rupert Lowe MP, with up to 1,000 of its supporters expected in the constituency in a move that could split the right-wing vote and inadvertently benefit Burnham. A poll published by More in Common on Friday evening put Labour on 45 per cent, Reform on 40 per cent and Restore on 8 per cent.
