Lammy: Starmer Will Not Set Departure Timetable

David Lammy, one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s closest cabinet allies, said Monday that Starmer is not preparing to announce a timetable for leaving Downing Street, urging the Labour Party to move beyond what he called a “spectacular own goal” of persistent leadership speculation.

While some allies have suggested Starmer might be willing to step aside if Andy Burnham wins next month’s Makerfield byelection and no other challenger emerges, Lammy insisted no such plan is under consideration.

“There will be no timetable for departure,” Lammy, who serves as justice secretary and deputy prime minister, told Sky News.

“Let me be really clear – Keir Starmer remains the most resilient person I know in my life. I spoke to him twice yesterday. He has a strength of character, a fighting experience. There will be no timetables.”

Lammy added: “What there is, is getting on with the business of government, [he is] really crystal clear about that. At the moment, there is no contest. What there is, is his determination to deliver for the people.”

Burnham is expected to be selected as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield contest after sitting MP Josh Simons stepped down specifically to allow the Greater Manchester mayor to attempt a return to Westminster. If Burnham wins against an expected strong challenger from Reform UK, he is likely to challenge for the party leadership.

Lammy said Burnham would “be a great addition to parliament” and that he plans to travel to the constituency on the edge of Wigan to campaign for him.

He lamented a week of internal wrangling in which Simons resigned and another potential challenger to Starmer, Wes Streeting, stepped down as health secretary after apparently failing to gather enough MP support for a direct leadership bid.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat this, I thought that the Labour party over the last 10 days had a spectacular own goal after those local election results,” Lammy said.

“We now need to unite and pull together. We have a byelection to fight. We need to remember our responsibilities as a government. We are not in opposition. We have the levers of power.”

Reform UK is expected to campaign heavily in Makerfield over speculation that Labour might consider reversing Brexit, after Streeting used a speech Saturday to say Britain’s long-term future lay in rejoining the European Union – a position dismissed as “odd” by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Asked about the debate, Lammy said he was proud that during his tenure as foreign secretary he had resumed closer collaboration with EU nations, removed many trade barriers on food and agriculture, and brought the UK back into the Erasmus student exchange program.

Regarding Streeting’s comments, Lammy said the government’s red lines – including not rejoining the EU’s customs union or single market, let alone full membership – remain in place. “I’m not going to make a commitment about the next election,” he said.

When asked if he personally would like the UK to rejoin one day, Lammy replied: “I’m committed to collective responsibility, the manifesto we stood on. Wes Streeting has left the government. He can have a debate, he can comment. That is not my position.”