A prominent London Labour MP is predicting that Sir Keir Starmer will be ousted from No10.
Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan said it was a “given” that there would be a change in the Labour leadership and Prime Minister.
With Labour gripped with talk about replacing Sir Keir, she told The Standard: “Our Labour Government has achieved some good things: scrapping the two child benefit cap, nationalising our railways and providing free childcare hours.
“This however, has been overshadowed by poor communication and bad policy choices elsewhere.
“It is a given that there will be a change in leadership.
“We need a shift in direction and I think a leader like Andy Burnham or Angela Rayner would give us that.”
Sir Keir’s future as PM has been thrown into doubt after Labour lost nearly 1,500 council seats at the May 7 local elections and suffered a string of defeats to Zack Polanski’s Green Party in London.
Many Labour MPs are pinning their hopes of turning around their party’s fortunes on Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham winning the Makerfield by-election on June 18 and then taking over from Sir Keir as Prime Minister.
Dr Allin-Khan, who is also an A&E doctor, campaigned in all 32 boroughs in the capital at the local elections and has been mooted as a possible London mayoral contender if Sir Sadiq Khan does not stand for a fourth term.
On the Left of the Labour Party, she was heading to the Makerfield by-election, in the north west, on Monday to campaign for Mr Burnham.
She stressed: “During the local elections, the overwhelming view I heard from voters was that they were not voting Labour because of the policy and leadership mistakes made on big issues such as welfare cuts, our rhetoric on immigration and the Labour stance on international issues such as Gaza.
“Local councillors and Labour councils paid the heavy price.”
It is far from certain that Mr Burnham will win the Makerfield by-election with polling suggesting a very close fight between him and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
MPs return to the Commons on Monday after the half-term break and possible contenders for a leadership race are already jockeying for position.
Ilford North MP Wes Streeting, who resigned as Health Secretary, has suggested a “targeted reduction” of employers’ national insurance contributions as a way to “actively incentivise” hiring, particularly of young people.
Rachel Reeves’ decision to raise employers’ NICs in her first Budget has been widely blamed for costing jobs, hitting the high street and undermining economic growth.
But Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden continued to back the Chancellor’s decision, stressing that it raised money for public services including the NHS.
He told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that businesses already did not have to pay employers’ national insurance for workers under the age of 21.
He said: “Like every other call for a tax change, there’s a cost to these things. You have to net these things off.
“If you want to pull one lever in the tax basket, as it were, there will be consequences.”
Mr Streeting may not challenge Mr Burnham for the Labour leadership if the latter returns to Parliament.
But if Mr Burnham fails to win in Makerfield, Mr Streeting, on the Right of the Labour Party, could enter a leadership contest against former Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner or other candidates.
He set out at the weekend a series of policy positions, including issuing North Sea oil and gas licences as a way to raise more tax revenue and pursuing a “maximalist” relationship with the EU within the limits set out by Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
Sir Keir, Mr Burnham and Mr Streeting have all rejected parts of a blueprint for Labour set out by former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair.
