Keir Starmer says he wants to offer Burnham ‘big role’ in government to avoid leadership contest – UK politics live

Former health secretary Wes Streeting also threatened to launch a leadership contest if the prime minister did not set out a timetable to step down

Good morning. Keir Starmer is still in France for the G7 summit but – as Margaret Thatcher discovered on a trip to Paris in November 1990 – acting as a statesman on the world stage does not protect a PM from a leadership challenge at home and, on that front, there has been a small development overnight; Starmer is now being told explicitly he will face a leadership challenge next week if he does not agree a timetable to stand down after the Makerfield byelection tomorrow.

This has always been implicit, but last night Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who wants to launch a leadership bid, said it out loud.

We can’t go on with this uncertainty. I think we will inevitably end up in a contest.

I’ve given you my answer.

Well, I’m sure I’ll talk to Andy after the weekend, of course I will. I’ve spoken to him many times in recent weeks. And when I came into politics in 2015, it was Andy Burnham’s team that I joined, and we worked very well together.

He’s a huge asset, he’s been a fantastic mayor in Manchester and if he comes back into parliament – I hope he wins in the byelection – he’ll be a fantastic asset for our party and for the country.

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