The Prime Minister “doesn’t seem like someone who expects to have the weight of the world on their shoulders for much longer”, one insider said.
Speculation has mounted in recent weeks over the Prime Minister’s future (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer could resign as Prime Minister before facing a leadership challenge in early 2026 new reports suggest. Party members have come to the conclusion based on Sir Keir’s “new zen-like mood”, out of keeping with the high stakes of his make-or-break Autumn Budget next week, according to the Daily Mail.
It also follows weeks of speculation about mutiny in the Labour ranks, with up-and-comers including Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rumoured to be eyeing the top job for themselves. Despite this, and Labour’s ever-dwindling approval ratings dropping to a new low of 18%, the Prime Minister appears unfazed.
One backbencher told the Daily Mail: “He was very chilled.”
The added: “Not like someone who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Or expects to have [it] for that much longer.”
Wes Streeting is among the rumoured leadership contenders set to challenge Starmer (Image: Getty)
An unnamed minister also chimed in, reportedly pointing to Sir Keir’s uncharacteristic comments about his son to mark International Men’s Day as evidence that he is nearing the end of his tenure.
The Prime Minister pledged that father and son would “keep talking, keep learning from each other [and] keep helping each other” and admitted that he and his own father “never really spoke” or “got to know each other” in an open letter last week.
“I thought that was an odd thing for him to do,” the minister said.
“He’s not keen on talking about his family like that. I thought there was something valedictory about it.”
While some have speculated Sir Keir will be forced to resign before Christmas amid backlash to next week’s tax-hiking budget, others have pinpointed May’s local elections as the prime moment to launch a rival leadership bid.
With polling at record lows and behind-the-scenes turmoil undermining Labour’s insistence last July that “the grownups are in charge”, the UK public could make their voices heard at the ballot box next spring.
Despite this, and any perceived acceptance of his fate among colleagues, the Prime Minister has openly dismissed talk of leadership challenges as “wasted” government time.
He also publicly pleaded for unity after an extraordinary spat earlier this month saw a Number 10 source brief the media that Mr Streeting was plotting a leadership bid.
Downing Street said in response: “The Prime Minister opened Cabinet by setting out the importance of the Government’s mandate to renew the country. He said distractions meant our focus shifted from where it mattered most, working every day in service of the British people.”
