The threat to Starmer’s position, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when his rival Andy Burnham won a seat in parliament that would allow him to ​launch a formal leadership challenge.

The Observer report said Starmer was discussing the matter with his wife at his Chequers country ​residence before making a final decision, but that senior Labour figures expected a clear statement on ⁠his future as early as Monday.

However, a government source said Starmer remained focused on his job and pointed to previous statements ​he has made to that effect.

The British leader said on Friday he would fight any challenge to his leadership and urged Labour not to tear ​itself apart with infighting.

Starmer’s popularity

Starmer led the centre-left Labour Party to a landslide election win in 2024 but has become deeply unpopular after a series of scandals and policy U-turns that have given many voters an overall impression that he cannot deliver the improvement to their standards of living ​that he promised.

If he were to quit or be ousted, it would mean the country installing its seventh prime minister in just ​over a decade — the highest turnover in nearly two centuries, reflective of anger at successive governments’ failures to improve public services and tackle issues ‌like illegal ⁠immigration.

More than 100 elected lawmakers in Starmer’s party — roughly a quarter of all Labour representatives in the House of Commons — have publicly said they want him to quit or set out a timetable for his exit, according to a Reuters tally.

The Observer report, which did not name its sources, said Starmer had reached the conclusion that his position was no longer tenable after speaking to cabinet ministers, ​advisers, donors and trade union leaders.

Burnham waiting in the wings

Burnham, a ⁠56-year-old career politician, is seen by many in Labour as the most likely successor to Starmer — whether through a negotiated transfer of power or a formal leadership contest.

Having built a power base within ​Labour as mayor of Greater Manchester in northern England, he comfortably saw off the threat from ​Nigel Farage’s right-wing ⁠populist party to win an election for a vacant parliamentary seat on Friday.

Burnham did not immediately make a formal challenge to Starmer but used his victory address to promise a new path for the country.

His allies have urged Starmer to agree to step down and hand over ⁠power voluntarily.

Former ​health minister Wes Streeting has also said he is willing to challenge Starmer.

The ​Times newspaper reported on Saturday that Burnham would sack finance minister Rachel Reeves if he were to become prime minister after his advisers concluded she did not represent ​a sufficient change of direction. Reuters could not immediately verify that report.