Overview
- Deputy prime minister David Lammy said Monday that Keir Starmer will not resign, warning that a drawn‑out fight could cost Labour the next general election.
- Wes Streeting quit the cabinet on Thursday and on Saturday declared a run for the leadership, calling Brexit a catastrophic mistake and saying Britain should one day rejoin the EU.
- Labour’s board cleared Andy Burnham to seek a Commons seat in a Makerfield by‑election set for Thursday, June 18, and he says he will campaign on local issues rather than EU re‑entry.
- Makerfield voted about 65% Leave in 2016 and Reform UK took roughly half the local vote this month, so Farage’s party is pushing to turn the race into a verdict on Brexit.
- Under party rules a challenger needs 81 Labour MPs to trigger a ballot, with reports of 80–90 urging Starmer to go and more than 150 backing him, and any full contest likely running into the summer.