A mighty battle for the future of the Labour party will begin if Sir Keir Starmer is forced out. Here are leading contenders to succeed him.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has long been seen as a potential Labour leader (Image: PA)
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s admission that Labour MPs have urged him to run for the Labour leadership has forced the question of who should succeed Sir Keir Starmer into the open. If the Prime Minister is pushed out the scene is set for a battle for the soul of a party which has seen its support collapse in its first year in office as the popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has surged.
Here are the men and women considered favourites to take the helm of not the Labour party but the country.
Andy Burnham 7/2
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
PROS: The youthful 55-year-old is hugely experienced, having served in senior Government roles including Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Culture Secretary, Health Secretary and now Mayor of Greater Manchester. He commands cross-party respect for work to secure justice for Hillsborough victims.
CONS: He is not an MP and if there is a by-election Reform UK would have high hopes of winning the seat in a double-humiliation for both Mr Burnham and the Prime Minister. He has also run for the Labour leadership twice before and critics will try to tie him to the worst moments of New Labour.
Wes Streeting 7/1
Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Image: Getty)
PROS: The Health Secretary was marked out as a talent to watch as soon as he arrived in Parliament in 2015. Aged just 42, he has made bringing down NHS waiting lists a personal mission and Labour Right-wingers who hunger for reform of the public sector could unite around him as the Tony Blair of his generation.
CONS: He has made enemies on the Left of the party and there would be concerns he could be toppled from his Ilford North seat. He has a majority of just 528, with pro-Palestine independent candidate Leanne Mohamad coming second last year.
Yvette Cooper 12/1
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper at the United Nations (Image: Getty)
PROS: The 56-year-old Foreign Secretary could hit the ground running, having served as Home Secretary under Sir Keir and Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown. Labour will also come under pressure to elect its first woman leader.
CONS: She has been an MP since 1997 so would represent a fresh start for Labour. Her 2015 bid for the leadership failed to catch fire, with her coming third behind Mr Burnham and Jeremy Corbyn.
Shabana Mahmood 12/1
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud (Image: Getty)
PROS: There is excitement in unlikely quarters about the 45-year-old’s arrival at the Home Office. The Spectator – the most influential magazine in Tory circles – has declared this is “Mahmood’s moment” and saluted her for arguing against “indulgence of trans evangelists, Islamist extremists and human rights ideologues”. If the former Justice Secretary can do a better job of stopping the boats than any of her predecessors she could be seen as the best person to take on Reform UK.
CONS: The Left of the party will be turned off by the admiration for her in Tory circles, and if criminals who benefit from early release under changes pushed forward on her watch commit terrible deeds she could get the blame.
Angela Rayner 16/1
Former Deputy PM Angela Rayner (Image: Getty)
PROS: Despite quitting the Government when it was revealed she had underpaid stamp duty, it would be a mistake to count her out. As deputy leader and Deputy Prime Minister she won respect for championing a sweeping package of workers’ rights which alarmed business but delighted her comrades. Her life story is an extraordinary example of social mobility and she has enjoyed huge popularity with the all-important membership.
CONS: Her fall from power has left the Government looking chaotic just when its competence is under question. To stand a chance of being considered for leader she will need to assure activists there are no further scandals brewing.
