Are Starmer's days numbered?

Head-to-head ..Keir Starmer and rival Andy Burnham

- JONATHAN WALKER Whitehall Editor

NOBODY expected it to be as bad as this. Thousands of activists, lobbyists and journalists are arriving in Liverpool for Labour’s annual conference, where the topic of conversation will be how long Sir Keir Starmer can last in No10 — and who will replace him.

The flagship announcement of a shiny new rail line, designed to show Labour has a plan to grow the economy, has been postponed.

Meanwhile, the Downing Street team is falling apart, with senior officials quitting and Sir Keir’s right-hand man under growing pressure to resign.

The Prime Minister was always going to find this conference challenging. Last year, three months after winning the general election, all he had to do was boast about his victory. This time, Labour needs to demonstrate some achievements.

Instead of rising to the challenge, the party has chosen this moment to collapse.

Open warfare has broken out between Sir Keir and Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, who wants the top job.

Mr Burnham told journalists that Labour MPs “have contacted me throughout the summer” urging him to run for the party leadership. Sir Keir responded by suggesting that the mayor would crash the economy in a similar way to Liz Truss.

It’s remarkable that the mayor is openly angling for Sir Keir’s job, but even more so that the PM feels the need to respond.

It suggests Sir Keir believes that there’s a genuine threat to his position — even though Andy Burnham is not an MP and could not stand for the Labour leadership without first returning to Parliament.

As a result, all eyes will be on Mr Burnham during the party conference where he will speak at a number of fringe events.

Spotlight

But it is not just him. Labour MPs contemplating life after Sir Keir are casting around for other potential replacements. It means Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Health Secretary Wes Streeting will also be under the spotlight in Liverpool.