Burnham ally Louise Haigh to Starmer: Leave quietly or face a 'brutal, unpleasant' fight for Labour leadership

By JASON GROVES, POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 02:37, 20 June 2026 | Updated: 02:37, 20 June 2026 Andy Burnham's right-hand woman Louise Haigh told Keir Starmer he can either go quietly or face a 'brutal' end. At Mr Burnham's victory rally in Makerfield, Ms Haigh said: 'I hope the Prime Minister takes the weekend to really reflect on the result here and listen to soundings from the Cabinet and from the Parliamentary Labour Party. 'Because I think all the evidence suggests that that contest would be brutal, it would be unpleasant, and it would be very unlikely that the Prime Minister could win at the end of it.' Mr Burnham said his by-election victory gave him a mandate to 'lay out a new path for Britain'. Privately, some Cabinet ministers were delivering the same message to the PM yesterday. Sir Keir's allies believe that senior figures including Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood could walk out as soon as next week in an attempt to force him out. 'The game is up,' one Cabinet source said. 'After that result, Andy is going to be PM – and soon. I hope Keir will not choose to put as all through a lot of pain first because the end result is going to be the same.' Another, previously loyal, minister described Sir Keir as a 'dead man walking'. The source told the Daily Mail: 'It's up to the Cabinet to act now. I don't think he can survive a very significant chunk of his Cabinet resigning.' Louise Haigh, who once served as Transport Secretary under Starmer, has warned the PM to leave quietly She made the remarks at Andy Burnham's victory rally in Ashton-in-Makerfield (pictured hugging Mr Burnham) Sir Keir said yesterday that a leadership contest would plunge the Government into 'chaos' but that he will fight to keep his job. In recent weeks, the PM has quietly gone about recruiting a campaign team and has raised a war chest of more than £100,000. In calls with MPs yesterday, he warned a contest would 'tear us apart' and paralyse the Government, adding: 'The worst thing we can do is take our foot off the gas.' This weekend he will war game how to cope with ministerial resignations likely to happen if he refuses Mr Burnham's demand to set out a timetable for departure. If he survives the walkout then Mr Burnham – or the former health secretary Wes Streeting –could be forced to finally launch a formal challenge triggering a contest that could last all summer. The PM will gather his allies at Chequers this weekend to work on a strategy for what has been dubbed 'Operation Save Keir'. The two men at the heart of the power struggle have not spoken since the by-election saga began. But next week Mr Burnham will seek private talks where he will tell the PM to set a timetable for departure and inform him that he already has the backing of 200 Labour MPs, roughly half the parliamentary party. But Mr Burnham is desperate to avoid a contest that risks exposing his lack of readiness to take charge. The former Cabinet minister has fought two failed leadership campaigns in the past. Allies of the new MP for Makerfield say he would be content for Sir Keir to remain in No 10 until September to give him time to recruit a team for Government. Mr Burnham yesterday began to sketch out some of his thinking for the first time – more state control of water and energy sector, an end to 'trickle down economics', a 'reindustrialisation' of the North and a new focus on vocational education. But it is not a polished plan for government. Others on the Left are only too happy to fill in the blanks. Campaign aides say Ed Miliband calls so often they can 'never get him off the f****** phone'. Mr Miliband hopes to be Chancellor. His protege Miatta Fahnbulleh is working on Mr Burnham's policy prospectus and his former special adviser Grace Pritchard is now his spokesman. A supporter of Mr Burnham said: 'Keir's campaign is basically 50 people in the No 10 bunker who know they will never get another job in Government.' Some Labour insiders believe his wife, Victoria, and teenage children –who hate life in No 10 – could persuade him to step aside. Others think his stubbornness and anger at Mr Burnham will see him attempt to fight on. 'No-one knows what will happen,' one Cabinet minister said. 'But we have to find a way to avoid descending into the chaos of the Tory years.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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