Starmer and his potential successor favour a delay over the summer to allow orderly handover
Daily Telegraph 21/06/26
Andy Burnham is expected to become prime minister by September after he topples Sir Keir Starmer this week.
Allies of Sir Keir expect him to resign as soon as Monday morning after a weekend holed up at Chequers with his family.
However, the Prime Minister and Mr Burnham are said to favour a delay over the summer to allow an orderly handover of the keys to No 10.
Mr Burnham will arrive in Westminster on Monday to be sworn in as Makerfield’s new MP and will hold meetings with his team about his next steps.
Allies told The Telegraph that the former Mayor of Manchester wants a transition of at least a month, and even until early September, to prepare policies and build a team for running the country.
It could allow Sir Keir to remain in place for crucial meetings with Nato and the EU next month. Potential legacies in European defence co-operation and economic alignment with Brussels will be under discussion.
Senior allies of the Prime Minister expect him to announce his resignation as early as Monday morning, after Cabinet support for his premiership ebbed away over the weekend. Party sources suggested he must announce his departure by Tuesday morning, when the Cabinet next meets, or face a wave of resignations.
Sir Keir’s resignation could lead to either a coronation, with Labour MPs electing Mr Burnham unopposed, or an extended leadership contest at which his ideas would be tested.
On Sunday, demands grew for a general election if the leader changes, with Mike Tapp, a Home Office minister, calling for a change in legislation to stop the “constant churn” of politicians. Mr Burnham would be the seventh prime minister in a decade.
Allies of Mr Burnham want a longer transition of power amid concern in his camp that he is unprepared for national government, having spent most of the last decade focusing on local issues.
“He wants to go long, it’s definitely the current idea,” one ally said. “It needs to be at least a month to let each secretary of state meet with the permanent secretaries.
“It would be much like the run-up to a general election, having access talks and seeing how realistic some of the plans are.”
‘Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail’
Clive Lewis, the Norwich South MP and an ally of Mr Burnham, said the former mayor of Greater Manchester should take the time to prepare properly for power.
He told The Telegraph: “Starmer failed to do this. And as my dad always used to drill into me before exams – fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.”
A third Burnham ally said it was “basically in his gift to name a date” but that it would be “reasonable” to delay taking over until the early autumn.
But others expressed concern about the plan, warning that Mr Burnham risked losing momentum and public goodwill during a protracted handover.
“There are mixed opinions but I think the majority want it to happen ASAP,” said one supporter, adding that they wanted to see him in No 10 before mid-July.
It comes amid public disagreements between Mr Burnham’s economic advisers over the critical issue of whether he should increase borrowing, as demanded by some of his Left-wing supporters.
Lord O’Neill, a former Goldman Sachs chief economist and Treasury minister, suggested last week that Britain needed to be “bolder about borrowing to invest”.
But Andy Haldane, a former chief economist at the Bank of England, separately warned that “turning on the fiscal taps might make a bad situation worse”.
Some of Sir Keir’s backers also suggested that Mr Burnham should call a general election after taking power to win legitimacy in the eyes of the public.
One ally of Sir Keir, who last week believed he would fight on, said they were now expecting him to stand down as soon as Monday.
Donald Trump also waded into the debate on Sunday, once again flouting diplomatic norms as he posted on his Truth Social platform that the Prime Minister “will resign”.
The US president, who had not spoken to Sir Keir, said that “he failed badly on two very important subjects – immigration and energy”, adding: “I wish him well!”
Uncertainty over the country’s future will influence markets as they open on Monday amid concern over what a Burnham premiership will mean for the stretched public finances.
Britain is already paying unusually high prices to borrow from international investors owing to fears that the national debt is unaffordable.
Mr Burnham is widely expected to replace Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, with investors spooked by claims that Ed Miliband, a Left-wing figure, is the frontrunner to become the next chancellor.
Traders have singled out Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, as a potential “safe pair of hands” who would help keep borrowing costs down in No 10. Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, could also fit that bill.
Labour sources have also suggested that Wes Streeting could be a candidate if he does a deal with Mr Burnham not to trigger a leadership contest.
An ally of the former health secretary insisted that he still intended to take part in the race to replace Sir Keir and has the 81 backers required.
Mr Burnham is set to keep Shabana Mahmood on as Home Secretary and stick by her immigration reforms, which are contentious within Labour.
The decision has prompted consternation on the Left, with one MP saying: “Many of us are deeply disappointed at the idea that Shabana should keep her job.”
Elsewhere, he is expected to appoint leading members of the soft Left, including Angela Rayner, Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Lisa Nandy to top jobs.
Ms Rayner was once tipped to run for the leadership, but appears to have rowed in behind Mr Burnham in the hope of landing a return to the Cabinet.
The former Mayor of Manchester was photographed looking relaxed as he wore Birkenstock sandals during a day out in Cheshire on Sunday.
The Prime Minister’s position looked increasingly precarious after even Peter Kyle, a loyalist minister, refused to say that he thought the Labour leader would battle on.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was set to resign, the Business Secretary would only say that he was “reflecting on political realities”.
The timings of any resignation would be uncertain, with allies suggesting as early as Monday or possibly before a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Should Sir Keir announce his resignation, by convention he would have to inform the King, who will be working at Windsor Castle.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, warned that Mr Burnham would fare no better unless he enters No 10 with a clear vision of what he wants to achieve with power and how.
He said: “Burnham must recognise that if he reaches No 10, he’ll never have more power than on his first day in the job.
“It is vital he has a clear and achievable plan for what he wants to do in those opening hours.”
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