David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, has stated that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will not set a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, as Labour seeks to move beyond what he described as a “spectacular own goal” of repeated leadership speculation.
Speaking to Sky News, Lammy said: “There will be no timetable for departure. 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.” He added that the focus should be on “getting on with the business of government” and that Starmer is “really crystal clear about that.”
The comments come as Starmer visited Labour headquarters on Monday, urging staff to show “100%” support for the party’s candidate in the upcoming Makerfield byelection. The contest was triggered after sitting Labour MP Josh Simons stepped down to allow Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to run for a Westminster seat. Burnham is expected to be selected as the Labour candidate, though he faces a strong challenge from Reform UK.
Starmer told Labour staff: “The election results tell us that people are frustrated, they don’t feel that their lives have changed quickly enough. We need to build up the urgency of what we do. We need a bit more hope in there. And we need to remember at all times what we are here to do. We were elected to government to serve the people of this country.” He emphasized that the byelection is a fight “Labour versus Reform” and that he will support the candidate “100%.”
Lammy acknowledged that Burnham would “be a great addition to parliament” and pledged to campaign for him in the constituency near Wigan. However, he lamented the internal wrangling that included Simons’ resignation and the departure of former health secretary Wes Streeting, who resigned after failing to gather enough support for a leadership challenge.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat 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.”
On the issue of Brexit, Lammy noted that the government’s red lines – ruling out rejoining the EU’s customs union, single market, or full membership – remain in place. This follows comments by Streeting suggesting that Britain’s long-term future lay in rejoining the EU, a position dismissed as “odd” by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. Lammy said he is “committed to collective responsibility” and the manifesto Labour stood on, adding that Streeting “can have a debate” but that is not his position.
