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The Papers: ‘Starmer’s battle begins’ and ‘Rivals’

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The papers are dominated by Sir Keir Starmer’s fight to stay on as prime minister, after Thursday saw Health Secretary Wes Streeting resign from Cabinet – although he did not launch a leadership bid. The Financial Times summarises events as “Starmer’s battle begins”. According to the paper, the prime minister is looking down the barrel of an “agonising and protracted leadership crisis” after a “day of drama” that included the resignation by Labour MP Josh Simons from his seat near Manchester – effectively offering Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham a route back to Westminster which would allow him to launch a leadership bid of his own.

The Metro has re-imagined the “dramatic power struggle” as an episode of Rivals picturing Streeting, Burnham and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner as characters in the “raucous” TV series, along with Sir Keir, elevated to the role of Lord Baddingham.

Many papers lead on Burnham’s ambitions, with the Sun declaring “Burn to run”. The paper explains that following Simons’s decision to step aside, Burnham will need to be chosen as Labour’s candidate by the party’s National Executive Committee before he can run for the seat in Makersfield. Following his approval, there would then be a by-election – and the Sun notes that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has promised to throw “absolutely everything” at winning the seat. If Burnham won the seat, he would then be eligible to try and win the premiership.

Burnham is also front and centre of the Daily Telegraph, which has been told that his bid to be the Labour Party candidate for Makersfield will not be blocked by NEC. It writes that the current mayor of Manchester made a “coded reference” to his leadership ambitions when he announced his intention to run for the seat, saying he hoped to “change Labour for the better” and “make it a party you can believe in again”.

“Burnham makes move” reads the Times, calling it the first step in his campaign to remove Sir Keir from power. Following Burnham’s announcement, a cabinet minister suggested to the paper that Sir Keir would be “considering his position” overnight and debating whether to fight or step down.

The Guardian says the move has “ended days of speculation about whether Burnham could secure a path back to the Commons” and that it underlines the “precarious nature” of Sir Keir’s premiership. In addition to Burnham, the paper covers the other events that unfolded on Thursday: a resignation for Streeting and a resolution for Rayner, who was cleared by HMRC over her tax affairs.

“Crash and Burnham” says the Star, suggesting that the Labour Party’s “King of the North” could be replaced as the mayor of Manchester by former Man United star Gary Neville.

Streeting and Burnham are declared contenders in the battle for the premiership on the front page of the i Paper, which says the rest of the cabinet must now decide whether they will “stick with Starmer” or encourage a timetable for a leadership contest. It says Streeting resigned with a “devastating critique” of Sir Keir’s performance, adding that he has called for the “best possible candidates” in a leadership contest, and a “battle of ideas” instead of factions.

“And so it begins…” reads the Mirror, marking out the “Labour battleground”. Streeting, Burnham and Rayner are all pictured on the front page, with the paper declaring that they are lining up to challenge the prime minister as “the economy starts growing and the NHS cuts waiting lists for the first time in years”.

The Daily Mail refers to the trio as “Labour’s great pretenders”, and says Sir Keir’s government was “frozen in the headlights” on Thursday as plots to topple him “finally burst into the open”.

The Daily Express leads with a quote from Streeting from his resignation on Thursday, which saw the former health secretary say: “Where we need vision, we have a vaccuum.”

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The Papers: ‘Starmer’s battle begins’ and ‘Rivals’

Daily Express

Daily Mail

Daily Mirror

Daily Star

Daily Telegraph

Financial Times

Guardian

Independent

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