Keir Starmer ready to resign as PM 'runs out of friends' after Andy Burnham victory, allies claim

Allies of Sir Keir Starmer have said the Prime Minister is preparing to resign following Andy Burnham's by-election victory in Makerfield. A Labour MP loyal to the Prime Minister said he believed Sir Keir would announce his departure date as soon as Monday A senior ally told The Sun: I think there is just a 25 per cent chance [Sir Keir] fights on now.One Labour frontbencher added: The PM just doesn’t have many friends left. It is about Keir Starmer. He is the problem. If Andy Burnham wasn’t challenging him someone else would be.” TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Another senior figure told The Telegraph there had been quite a bit of movement among Cabinet ministers since the by-election result.Calls for Sir Keir to go have been building since Labour took a beating in May’s local elections, with the party losing votes to Nigel Farage's Reform UK and Zack Polanski's Green Party.The Prime Minister has repeatedly vowed to fight any leadership challenge, insisting he will not walk away.But Mr Burnham’s by-election victory has prompted more backbenchers and Labour grandees to call for Sir Keir to stand down.One ally of Mr Burnham said: As Donald Trump would say, Keir Starmer doesn’t hold any cards here. He needs to set out a timetable to go.Andy offers a lifeline for all those seats that were going to get smashed out the park by Reform at the next election. It’s a matter of survival.More to follow... Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter