Keir Starmer’s leadership is now being judged less by one by-election result than by the wider collapse of confidence around him.
Jess Phillips, a prominent ally of Wes Streeting, has said the prime minister may still have to go even if Andy Burnham fails to win Makerfield, sharpening the sense that Labour’s crisis is bigger than one seat.
The warning matters because it shifts the argument from tactics to trust. Labour insiders have already been openly discussing the damage caused by the party’s poor local election performance, with one report saying more than 80 Labour MPs have called on Starmer to resign while ministers and backbenchers trade blame in public and private.
Burnham’s bid for Makerfield was meant to be a route back to Westminster, but it has become a test of whether Labour still has a governing story people believe.
He has argued that “much bigger change is needed at a national level” and that “millions are struggling,” a message designed to appeal beyond party factions and toward exhausted voters.
That is where the political risk lies for Starmer. If Burnham wins, the leadership challenge becomes immediate; if he loses, the pressure may not fade, because MPs and ministers are already treating the current leadership as structurally damaged rather than simply unlucky.
Jess Phillips Has Just Launched Her Most Savage Attack Yet On “Cockroach” Keir Starmer 😳
Asked by Robert Peston: “What is the probability that Starmer can actually survive?”
Jess Phillips brutally described the Prime Minister as something like a “ cockroach in a nuclear war”… pic.twitter.com/KNfyl49NPj
— J Stewart (@triffic_stuff_) May 21, 2026
The wider effect stretches beyond Westminster gossip. Markets have already reacted nervously to speculation about a Burnham comeback and the possibility of a more interventionist Labour economic agenda, with investors watching for signs of higher borrowing, tax changes and a less predictable fiscal line.
For now, the message from Labour’s restless middle is clear: Makerfield may decide Burnham’s path, but it may not rescue Starmer’s. The real story is a party preparing for a leadership question that could survive either outcome.
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