Keir Starmer set to face reality and step down finally

The UK is in an unusual situation in which everyone understands Keir Starmer is no longer PM except Keir Starmer himself. This is a problem, because Starmer is unfortunately the only person who can remove Starmer from office. Thankfully, though, there are now signs he’s planning to join us all here in reality.

As Labour MP Karl Turner said:

Good. It’s about time. He’s brought this on himself. Tatty bye. Briefed against good people. Disgrace. Absolute disgrace. https://t.co/IQ8FHSEt3B

— Karl Turner MP (@KarlTurnerMP) May 16, 2026

Keir Starmer — end of days

According to Dan Hodges of the Daily Mail, “close friends” of Starmer have said the PM is planning to set out a timetable for his departure. This obviously raises eyebrows, because it suggests he has “close friends”, and not simply people who owe their Cabinet positions to him.

Whether this anonymous insider was a friend or not, it’s reported that they said:

Keir understands the political reality.

He realises the current chaos is unsustainable. He simply wants to be able to do it in a dignified way and in a manner of his own choosing. He will set out a timetable.

The question now is not if Starmer will go but when. One source told Hodges:

Morgan McSweeney [the PM’s former chief of staff] has been urging him to hang on. He’s arguing if they show a tight contest or that Andy is on course to lose, then there is still a chance

Yes — that’s right — the disgraced McSweeney is back in the mix. It’s almost like Starmer is incapable of making his own decisions, isn’t it? And it’s almost like that’s why he proved to be such a weak and ineffectual prime minister.

Another source told Hodges:

He’s not going to take the risk of waiting for the result of the by-election. That would be too much of a personal humiliation. If he waits and then Burnham wins, it looks as if he’s driven him out of office.

To be fair, no one will think Burnham pushed him out of office; everyone understands it was Starmer’s own incompetence.

Team Burnham

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is currently running to become the MP for Makerfield. Should he return to parliament, Burnham will be in a position to challenge Keir Starmer. That’s a big ‘if’, however, because Reform recently did well there, and current polling looks this:

🗳️NEW | Burnham narrowly leads in Makerfield

🔴 Lab: 45% (-)
➡️ Ref: 42% (+10)

Source: @Survation estimate, 15 May 2026
—
+/- vs 2024 general election pic.twitter.com/wwgueC9uDP

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) May 16, 2026

According to Hodges, Burnham’s team want Starmer to hold back on announcing his departure until after Burnham wins. The strategy is that Starmer staying in place will motivate voters to return Burnham to parliament.

Ultimately, however, it might not make a difference, because we all know Starmer is gone one way or another.

Further on Keir Starmer and departure timetable:

* Team Burnham want him to wait until AFTER the by-election. They worry it would undermine their “Vote Andy to get rid of Starmer” message

* Starmer remains furious at perceived cabinet betrayal. Believes Ministers who have been…

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 17, 2026

Going, going…

At this point, Keir Starmer is clearly going. While it’s not ideal that we face several months of being functionally leaderless, it’s not like Starmer was doing all that much leading anyway.

As we’ve reported, Burnham himself has many, many faults as a politician. Still, it does seem like we could get some decent policies out of him, including renationalisation and proportional representation.

In other words, while Burnham isn’t the second coming, he might at least show up.

Featured image via Getty Images / Getty Images