London: A clear majority of Keir Starmer's cabinet believe it's now inevitable Andy Burnham's will take over as prime minister, according to people familiar with the thinking of more than 15 cabinet ministers, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity on Friday.
However, as of late in the afternoon, most remained unwilling to do anything about it. The majority of the cabinet was still not ready to tell Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, the people said, preferring to wait and see how developments unfold.
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Starmer held a series of telephone conversations with his senior ministers throughout the day to gauge their positions, they added. One, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, did tell Starmer that he should go, and more could follow suit. But the key question remained - will the cabinet move decisively against him in the coming hours or days?
Meanwhile, Burnham does not intend to launch an immediate leadership challenge, people familiar with his plans said. The scale of victory over Nigel Farage's Reform UK in Makerfield proves Burnham is best placed to lead Labour against the populist right, they added, arguing that the longer Starmer tries to resist the more damaging his exit will be.
Starmer doesn't agree. "I'm not going to walk away," he said again on Friday morning, insisting he would fight any contest. He told a call with Labour staffers: "Let's pull together as a party and a movement. The one thing we've got to avoid doing is plunging our party and our country into chaos by turning on each other."
As the extent of his thumping victory over Reform was announced in the early hours of Friday morning, Burnham stood on stage at a conference center in Wigan beside fellow candidates - including one called Count Binface, and another dressed as a fox.
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As prime minister, he would soon be standing next to fellow leaders on the international stage instead, but the route to the EU summit in July or September's UN general assembly in New York remains unclear.
The mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, Burnham will stand down from that position and take his seat in Westminster on Monday but plans to let pressure build over the weekend without intervening further.
