Pressure mounts on UK PM Starmer to quit after Burnham’s by-election win

UK minister says Starmer considering ‘political realities’ after Labour rival Andy Burnham secured decisive by-election win.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is weighing whether to resign within days, according to media reports, amid mounting pressure from his own Labour Party following a decisive by-election win by his rival, Andy Burnham.Expectation is growing that Starmer could announce a resignation timetable as soon as Monday, the same day Burnham is sworn in as a lawmaker after winning Thursday’s vote by a wide margin – a result that has reportedly emboldened Labour figures, including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, to call for Starmer to step aside.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Burnham by-election victory raises stakes for Starmerlist 2 of 4‘I prefer Burnham’: Starmer’s future hangs in balance after UK by-electionlist 3 of 4Two men jailed for arson attacks on property linked to UK prime ministerlist 4 of 4Are UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s political days numbered?end of listA resignation would lead to the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister in a decade, a rapid rate of churn in the country’s modern history.Starmer has been under growing pressure to step down after months of declining popularity, policy missteps and scandals.In February, the premier came under fire when revelations from the Epstein files about Peter Mandelson, whom Starmer appointed as the UK’s ambassador to the US in December 2024, came to light.Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, has made clear he intends to challenge to lead the slumping centre-left party, warning in his by-election victory speech that it had a “final chance to change”.If successful, he would become prime minister by default, given that the governing Labour has a huge parliamentary majority.Starmer is deeply unpopular with voters, according to polling.YouGov, a global public opinion and data analytics firm, reports that only 19 percent of British people have a positive opinion of the prime minister, and he ranks as the ninth most popular Labour politician.