The Prime Minister has posted an update on social media as pressure mounts on him to set out a timetable for his departure.
Sir Keir Starmer marked Father’s Day with a poignant message on X, saying ‘being a dad is the greatest joy’ – ignoring growing calls for him to resign.
He wrote: ‘Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him.’
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is now among senior cabinet figures believed to have advised Sir Keir to step aside.
Ed Miliband, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander are also thought to have joined calls for him to make an exit.
The PM is believed to have consulted with his wife Victoria and children over his future and, according to sources, may be preparing to set out an exit plan as early as Monday.
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Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the PM was reflecting on the ‘political challenges he faces today’, saying Labour needed to uphold its ‘authority’ in government.
‘I know that he’s a prime minister who always puts country first’, he said.
He added: ‘We are now facing a period of political uncertainty and we need to find a way to get through this that puts the country first. This is what we are trying to do.’
Mr Kyle added that Andy Burnham, who on Friday won back a seat in Parliament representing Makerfield, had the ‘qualifications’ and ‘temperament’ to take up the helm.
Until now, allies of the PM and No 10 had insisted that he would fight any challenge to his leadership.
If Sir Keir resigns on Monday, Britain will be set for its seventh prime minister in 10 years.
And Mr Burnham has been warned not to become leader ‘by default’ by someone whose lack of authority cut short his own tenure in No 10.
Former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote in the Sunday Times that Mr Burnham would not have more power ‘than on his first day in the job’ and that being a ‘better communicator’ would not be enough to make his tenure a success.
‘It is vital he has a clear and achievable plan for what he wants to do in those opening hours’, the Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton wrote.
Mr Sunak became prime minister in October 2022 following Liz Truss’s catastrophic 49-day premiership.
He was elected without a leadership contest after his former boss Boris Johnson chose not to stand, having been ousted as leader less than four months earlier.
In his column, Mr Sunak admitted that in hindsight a contest would have given him a greater mandate and authority.
‘Without one, your mandate is weak, and you end up being bound by commitments that aren’t your priorities’, he wrote.
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