Starmer latest: Pressure mounts on PM as he braces for leadership tussle with Burnham

We will keep you updated as Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership remains under intense pressure after a Labour MP stood aside to allow Andy Burnham to attempt to return to Parliament and challenge the Prime Minister.

From 9.30am, Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell will speak at the Fire Brigades’ Union annual conference in Warwick.

At 1.30pm, Kemi Badenoch will be in north west Essex.

Meanwhile, this morning we’ll see housing secretary Steve Reed and deputy leader of Reform UK Richard Tice on the media round.

The cryptocurrency investor behind a £5 million gift to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been identified as one of Britain’s wealthiest billionaires, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

The annual list of the Britain’s richest people has also shone a light on the growing fortunes of tech and finance entrepreneurs.

Christopher Harborne, who has broken records for his political donations to Reform, was a new entrant on the 2026 list.

The entrepreneur and investor came in at sixth place with an estimated wealth of £18.2 billion.

While living and working in Thailand for more than 20 years, the British billionaire has grown investments and shareholdings in financial companies including Tether, the crypto platform with an estimated valuation of roughly $200 billion.

He also has major investments in London-listed defence technology firm Qinetiq and payments provider IFX, as well as other aerospace businesses.

It is understood that Mr Harborne’s wealth could be larger than that estimated by the Rich List as some is held overseas or could not be identified by the researchers.

In his resignation letter, Mr Streeting blamed the “unprecedented” election results in part on “the unpopularity of this Government”, adding: “There are many reasons we could point to: from individual mistakes on policy like the decision to cut the winter fuel allowance to the ‘island of strangers’ speech, all of which have left the country not knowing who we are or what we really stand for.”

But a year ago, he defended cutting the winter fuel allowance, arguing the money saved had been invested in the NHS and in improving schools:

By political editor David Maddox:

Scottish Labour has not ruled out letting Andy Burnham run to become an MP in Scotland in order to oust Sir Keir Starmer.

Asked whether the Greater Manchester mayor could run in a by-election north of the border, Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour deputy leader and a member of the NEC, said: “You’ll just need to wait until after the NEC meeting on Tuesday.”