It is a “personal decision” for Keir Starmer on whether he wants to fight in a Labour leadership contest, one of his senior ministers has said, as rivals gather to oust him.
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also said it is up to the British Prime Minister whether he wants to take the “next fight forwards”, after Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham began laying the groundwork to challenge his authority.
Starmer has insisted in public he will fight to prove his doubters wrong, but The Times and other news outlets have reported he is privately weighing up his future.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Nandy appeared to veer away from the Government line that he will fight on.
She said: “It’s a very personal decision for him.
“I haven’t spoken to him this weekend, but I’ve spoken to him several times over the last week, and obviously he’s shown before that he’s up for a fight.”
Ms Nandy pointed to Starmer’s victory in the 2020 Labour leadership election, and his success in the 2024 general election, adding: “So I wouldn’t write off the Prime Minister, but I would just say that this is a very personal decision.
“He’s got to make that decision himself.”
Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, the Culture Secretary had earlier said: “The Prime Minister, of course, has to make his own decision about whether he wants to take that next fight forward.”
Ms Nandy also criticised what she described as “froth and nonsense” around talk of a challenge to Starmer, and had harsh words for ex-health secretary Mr Streeting, who on Saturday set out his desire for a “new special relationship” with the EU, and to eventually rejoin the trade bloc.
The senior minister told Sky News: “If rejoining the EU is the answer, then essentially what we’re saying to people is ‘life was fine in 2015, we just need to go back there’.
“I know Wes is coming up to campaign in the by-election quite soon. He will hear loud and clear from people in places like Wigan, Ashton, Winstanley, across Makerfield, that that is absolutely not the case. And the answer has to be bigger.”
While Ms Nandy insisted she backed Starmer, she also suggested an affinity for Mr Burnham over Mr Streeting, telling Sky News the Greater Manchester mayor is “squarely focused” on issues such as the cost of living and transport, adding this is “exactly where we need to be”.
Jostling over Labour’s future direction on Europe began as the party debated how to move on from its bruising election defeats last week.
Speaking at the Progress think tank’s conference in central London on Saturday, Mr Streeting described Brexit as a “catastrophic mistake”, and broke the ice on a topic which Labour has long avoided revisiting.
“We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe – and one day back in the European Union,” he said.
The policy offer could also be read as a direct challenge to Mr Burnham, who has previously expressed support for rejoining the EU, but may wish to avoid directly speaking about the issue as he bids to become Labour’s candidate in the upcoming Makerfield by-election.
The constituency on the edge of Greater Manchester was a Brexit-voting area in the referendum held nearly 10 years ago on June 23 2016.
Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage was among the most prominent supporters of leaving the EU, won every council ward in the Makerfield constituency in last week’s local elections, securing around half the vote, while Labour won only a little more than a quarter.
Mr Burnham told ITV News there was a “long-term case” for advocating to rejoin the EU, but insisted he was not campaigning on that issue in the upcoming Makerfield by-election, his potential route back to Parliament.
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Labour MP Josh Simons, who announced on Thursday that he would give up the Makerfield seat to make way for Mr Burnham, said the party should “come together” to back him.
He also denied reports he decided to give his seat up for Mr Burnham a year ago.
Mr Simons told the BBC he made the decision “two days ago”, after discussing it with his wife.
