The main runners and riders who could battle Keir Starmer for the top job

Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life as rumours swirl that he will face a leadership challenge.

The Prime Minister warned during a ‘reset’ speech this morning that replacing him would plunge the country into chaos.

But dozens of Labour MPs have been queuing up to urge Sir Keir to step down or lay out a timetable for leaving office.

So far, no big beast has come forward to say they want the top job, and one fringe contender has stepped back from the brink.

The root cause of the uncertainty – beyond Starmer’s apparent determination to stay at the helm – is that there is no heir apparent, but a cluster of rivals who could battle it out to replace the PM.

Metro analyses who the future Prime Ministers could be and what is stopping them from running.

Andy Burnham

Dubbed the ‘King of the North’, the mayor of Greater Manchester is popular among Labour MPs and party members.

Polling data from April 2026 also shows he is the only major Labour politician with a positive net favourability rating, currently at +9.

He has repeatedly failed to rule out ambitions to reach Number 10 and revealed last September that dozens of MPs were privately urging him to stand.

However, he is currently the elephant not in the room.

Andy Burnham is not an MP and, therefore, not able to run in a Labour leadership contest.

The Manchester mayor made a bid to stand as a candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this year, but Labour’s Starmer-friendly national executive committee blocked him.

Burham appears to be one of the main reasons some Labour MPs are now holding back from toppling Sir Keir.

His allies need to buy him time to find an open seat in Parliament, and hope that this time Starmer is so weak they can’t stop him standing.

However, the Prime Minister’s supporters still think they can stop their biggest threat returning.

Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle suggested on the morning round this morning that it was ‘not the time’ for Burnham to come back.

Angela Rayner

The former Deputy Prime Minister has been closely watched by the media since she resigned from Sir Keir’s cabinet last September, when it was revealed she had underpaid stamp duty on her Brighton flat.

Her achievements in government, notably the Employment Rights Act and the Renters’ Rights Act, have made her popular among left-wing factions in the Labour Party.

She is also the only Labour figure besides Burnham with positive ratings among the party’s own 2024 voters, at 48 per cent favourable against 33 per cent unfavourable.

However, her net rating stands at -31 among the general public.

She is now the centre of an HMRC investigation into her stamp duty affairs, and it is thought she will have to wait until that concludes before she can launch a challenge.

Angela Rayner has come out firing since the party’s local election drubbing, saying the party ‘needs to change’ and it ‘may be our last chance’.

However, she seems to have rowed in behind Burnham, saying he ‘should never have been blocked’ from seeking a seat in the Commons.

This has fueled speculation of a possible pact between the two, after it was reported that the pair met in April.

Wes Streeting

The articulate health secretary is considered Sir Keir’s most likely challenger from within the Cabinet.

Reports suggest he has picked up the backing of enough Labour MPs to launch a leadership bid.

He is considered popular among centre-right members who think he can connect with the public.

Speculation about his leadership hopes reached fever pitch when a briefing war exploded in the heart of government in November last year.

It started when reports circulated that Wes Streeting was plotting to challenge the PM and that Starmer was prepared to fight.

The health secretary appeared emboldened by the row and shut down the rumours on live TV, leaving some to blame Number 10’s chief advisor, Morgan McSweeney, for the chaos.

However, his popularity ratings are also low among the public, and a host of MPs feel he is too far to the right.

There is also the problem of his seat of Ilford North, which he won with a razor-thin and unreliable majority of 528 over a pro-Palestine candidate.

There are also fears he is politically linked with Peter Mandelson and Streeting has admitted he ‘absolutely’ questioned his own judgement on the issue.

Streeting has also consistently denied plotting to be leader.

Ed Miliband

It would usually be untenable for a former leader who lost an election to have a second go.

But there are reports that numerous MPs from the Labour left are urging one-time PM hopeful Ed Miliband to step forward.

The energy secretary is the most popular cabinet member among the Labour membership, polling suggests.

His green energy agenda could also offer voters an alternative to the Green Party after its popularity surged in recent months.

However, the general feeling is that Miliband does not want to wear the crown.

Allies told The Times that he aims to be kingmaker to a Burnham leadership bid – and to be rewarded with the chancellorship in return.

There are also fears he would lack credibility, given that the public rejected Labour when he was leader at the 2015 general election.

Catherine West

The veteran backbencher – who once backed Jeremy Corbyn for leader – burst into the Labour leadership race when she announced she would stand against Sir Keir on Monday if no other Cabinet member did.

The Hornsey and Friern Barnet MP said she would decide whether to challenge Starmer after watching his speech on Monday morning.

An hour after Sir Keir took to the stage, West described his speech as ‘too little too late’.

However, she rowed back on challenging the Prime Minister herself.

Instead, she sent an email to all her colleagues, collecting supporters for the Labour leader to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in

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