Keir Starmer has thrown down the gauntlet to his potential rivals, defying calls to quit as Britain’s prime minister and instead challenging his would-be opponents to launch a formal challenge against his leadership of the Labour Party.
To trigger a leadership challenge, one fifth of Labour’s members of parliament (MPs) – that is, 81 lawmakers – must coalesce around a single candidate. Once one or more candidates amass that level of support, their names can be put on the ballot to run against Starmer, in a contest voted on by Labour Party members.
Despite nearly 100 lawmakers publicly urging Starmer, 63, to quit, no candidate has yet mounted a formal leadership challenge against him. There are thought to be just a handful of names capable of mustering the required 81 signatures.
Here’s a look at who they are.
There are two camps in the Labour Party at present: Those who say they want a “rapid” change in leadership mean they favor Wes Streeting, the health secretary. Those who say they want an “orderly” transition of power mean they favor Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester – on whom, more later.
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