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Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly expected to speak on the steps of Downing Street this morning and announce a timeline for his resignation.
The Prime Minister is set to agree an ‘orderly’ exit, clearing the way for Andy Burnham to replace him and become the country’s seventh leader in a decade.
Sir Keir has faced immense pressure from his MPs and broader party to step down following his decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election last week.
He returned to Downing Street yesterday after spending the weekend with his wife Victoria at Chequers, his official country residence, where he reportedly began writing his resignation speech.
In a hint of Sir Keir’s imminent resignation minister Jacqui Smith told Smith told Times Radio this morning that she ‘would have been happy for him to continue’ in office.
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It is thought that Starmer will lay out his departure from power before Burnham is sworn in as a new MP later today.
The pair have reportedly not spoken since his overwhelming victory in Makerfield last week, where he staked his claim as the clear favourite to become the next Prime Minister.
The Guardian reports that the likely timetable for the former Manchester mayor’s route to Number 10 will involve Sir Keir staying in office until the autumn.
Burnham would then reportedly take over around the party’s annual conference at the end of September.
The PM had vowed to stand in any leadership race immediately after Burnham’s by-election win on Friday morning.
He told reporters in North London : ‘If there is a contest, just to be clear with you, then yes, I will run, I will stand and I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.’
If Starmer did decide to run against Burnham, it could lead to lengthy uncertainty over who will be running the country.
The Prime Minister position has weakened significantly since he defiance on Friday.
More than half a dozen of his cabinet are thought to have privately told him the game is up, including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
Others have warned against a coronation of Burnham, arguing anyone hoping to become the UK’s leader should be publicly tested.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: ‘My approach to this has always been that contests are better wherever possible.
‘That needs to be balanced with the needs of maintaining authority of a party through any processes that may unfold.’
Former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned from his post in the wake of last month’s elections, has said he wants a ‘battle of ideas’ about the future direction of the party.
Burnham remains the overwhelming favourite to win any contest, after demonstrating his ability to defeat Reform in Thursday’s by-election.
The so-called ‘King of the North’ took 55% of the vote in the constituency south of Wigan, coming a full 20 points ahead of Reform candidate Rob Kenyon.
He will be sworn into Parliament later today and it is believed he would easily obtain the backing of the 81 MPs needed to begin a leadership contest.
According to the New Statesman magazine, Burnham’s team is aiming to get the backing of as many as 200 other MPs – half of the Parliamentary Labour Party – to secure his position as the natural successor.
If Keir Starmer does announce his resignation in the coming days, it would represent a staggering fall from grace for a leader who won a huge majority in Parliament less than two years ago.
Starmer’s popularity plummeted shortly after he took office, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party rose to a consistent ten-point lead in voting intention polls.
Nerves from Labour figures after two disastrous sets of English local elections and a collapse in party support in Wales last month led to questions over whether a new leader could be required to avoid oblivion.
Sir Keir’s resignation would also come a day before the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, when the UK voted to leave the UK.
The decision has led to an unprecedented churn in Prime Ministers, with three Tory leaders forced out by their own MPs, before Rishi Sunak lost the general election in 2024.
Less than two years later and Sir Keir is on the brink of quitting himself, making him the sixth PM to be forced out in less than decade.
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