Labour Leadership Contenders To Replace Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer may have vowed to fight on this morning – but the smart money is still on him having to leave 10 Downing Street sooner rather than later.

The prime minister told his cabinet to get on with running the country as he called on his leadership rivals to put up or shut up.

Starmer loyalists Peter Kyle, Pat McFadden, Liz Kendall and Steve Reed than took the highly unusual step of speaking to the media in support of the PM after the cabinet meeting ended.

Nevertheless, the number of Labour MPs calling on the prime minister to quit in the wake of last week’s local election drubbing now stands at over 80, while junior minister Miatta Fahnbulleh has also resigned.

Under Labour Party rules, a challenger to the party leader must get the support of one-fifth of its MPs to trigger a contest, meaning they would currently need the backing of 81 of their colleagues.

Here, HuffPost UK looks at the likely runners and riders in the race to replace the PM.

Burnham was an MP until 2017, and during his 16 years in parliament served as a junior minister under Tony Blair and in Gordon Brown’s cabinet. He also tries and failed on two occasions to be elected Labour leader.

In the nine years since he quit Westminster, he has been the mayor of Greater Manchester, during which time his stock has continued to rise.

He is undoubtedly the most popular Labour politician in the country, which is confirmed by the fact he was re-elected in 2021 and 2024.

However, he cannot challenge the Labour leadership until he is an MP again.

He tried to come back earlier this year but was blocked by Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) from standing as the party’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, which was won by the Green Party.

Burnham needs to find a Labour MP in a safe seat, most likely in the north-west, who will agree to trigger a by-election by standing down, and then persuade the NEC to let him run this time.

And despite his popularity, it’s by no means certain that he would even be re-elected, given Labour’s current standing in the opinion polls.

Bookies’ odds of being next leader: 11/5

It is no secret that the Streeting covets Starmer’s job, but he does not want to be the one who wields the dagger that brings him down.

The hugely ambitious health secretary, who became an MP on the same day as Starmer in 2015, is Labour’s best communicator, something which has won him an army of admirers in the party.

However, his Blairite credentials have made him something of a hate figure on the left of the party, while Starmer loyalists have accused him of continually working to undermine the PM.

If he is to become leader, he needs to strike before Burnham returns to parliament, as he is unlikely to defeat him in a contest which would ultimately be decided by Labour members.

One MP told HuffPost UK: “If he doesn’t go this time, he’s done as a political force.”

`The former deputy prime minister was forced to resign from the cabinet last year for failing to pay the correct amount of stamp duty when she bought a flat in Brighton.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is still conducting its own investigation into the scandal, and most observers believe she cannot mount a leadership challenge until that is resolved.

She has been far more visible recently, however, and cannot be ruled out at this stage – especially if a contest takes place before Burnham returns and the Labour left are in need of a candidate to take on Streeting.

The Labour leader between 2010 and 2015, Miliband led the party to a shattering general election defeat to David Cameron’s Tories that year and was forced to resign.

After five years in the political wilderness, during which time he established a cult following online, he returned to the Labour frontbench when Starmer became leader in 2020.

Seen as a Net Zero zealot, he is bitterly opposed to issuing any new licences for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. Starmer did try to move from the energy brief in a reshuffle last September, but Miliband refused to go and kept his job.

He is one of five cabinet ministers who have privately told Starmer to consider his position, and like Rayner could throw his hat into the ring as the soft-left candidate in any leadership contest.

Like Burnham, she also ran for the Labour leadership in 2015, but came in a distant third place as Jeremy Corbyn swept to victory.

Another to have served in the Blair and Brown governments, she is currently foreign secretary and had been seen as a Miliband loyalist.

However, she notably did not give the PM her support in the wake of last week’s disastrous local elections, and Labour insiders say she has been on leadership manoeuvres in recent months. Could be persuaded to challenge Streeting.

The hardline home secretary if firmly on the Labour right, and has angered many on the party with her strict immigration policies.

Known as a straight-talker and good communicator, but her chances of being elected leader by the party’s more left-of-centre membership are slim.

She has also told Starmer that his time in No.10 is up.

The defence secretary also told Starmer that his time was up, but has since urged his colleagues not to bring him down.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Healey said: “More instability is not in Britain’s interest. Our full focus now must be on dealing with immediate economic & security challenges.”

Another on the soft-left of the party, he is seen as a leadership dark horse, but could be persuaded to run as a unity candidate who could help heal the party after months of bitter infighting.

MPs who could also be tempted to challenge for the leadership, if a contest is triggered, include defence minister Al Carns, Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell, chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones and education secretary Bridget Phillipson.

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