British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to announce his timetable for stepping down on Monday, according to reports, suggesting the move will begin the process of appointing the country’s seventh leader in 10 years.
Andy Burnham, the former Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, is seen as a potential candidate to replace Mr Starmer after he won a special election in the northwest of England last week, allowing him to return to parliament.
Following the result, Mr Starmer initially vowed to fight any leadership challenge. But speculation mounted over the weekend that Mr Starmer might resign.
A number of senior British government officials, including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, have reportedly asked the Prime Minister to spell out his plans for withdrawal.
The prime minister’s authority over the ruling Labor Party has been steadily eroded by a crushing defeat in last month’s local elections, as well as a series of weak opinion polls.
Mr Starmer’s resignation will pave the way for Mr Burnham, who is due to be sworn into parliament later on Monday, to succeed him as Labor Party leader and UK Prime Minister.
Mr Burnham’s landslide victory in last week’s Makerfield by-election further strengthened his position within the party, reducing the possibility of a leadership contest and leaving him poised to enter Downing Street unopposed.
US President Donald Trump said in a post on TruthSocial on Sunday that Starmer would resign.
“He has screwed up on two very important topics: immigration and energy (open up North Sea oil!),” Trump said in the post.
of lb It last traded at $1.3202, down 0.23% against the dollar. yield of 10 year UK government bondThe stock, known as Gilts, was flat at 4.8452% early Monday.
Burnham faces familiar financial difficulties
Lizzie Galbraith, a senior political economist at the University of Aberdeen, said Mr Burnham, now in the Westminster suburbs, had the benefit of being seen as “something different” in the eyes of voters, but would continue to inherit the same difficult fiscal constraints that have at times hampered Starmer’s policies.
British gold yields soared on Friday following Mr Burnham’s by-election victory. But he has recently been keen to appease markets, distancing himself from previous comments suggesting Britain was “following the bond market”.
“In the short term, Burnham will focus on gaining market confidence and not straying too sharply from the current political agenda, such as the fiscal policy set out under Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves,” Galbraith told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.
Chris Beecham, chief market analyst at IG, warned that markets would take a dim view of Burnham’s “free spending” approach given the UK’s “dire” fiscal situation.
“The question for the market is: what will actually change? Does Burnham, who is already flip-flopping, have the strength of will to chart a more dynamic course than the one charted during Starmer’s tenure?” Beecham said.
