Personal decision for Starmer on whether to fight leadership contest, minister says

It is a "personal decision" for Sir Keir Starmer whether he chooses to fight any potential leadership contest, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said.

She told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Sir Keir had "shown before that he's up for a fight" and "I wouldn't write off the prime minister".

However, Nandy also voiced her support for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to be "back in Parliament at the heart of power".

Burnham is seeking to stand as Labour's candidate in the Makerfield by-election and is widely expected to launch a leadership challenge if he wins.

Sir Keir would automatically be on the ballot paper if he chose to contest any leadership election, and earlier this week the prime minister told journalists he would stand if one took place.

Asked if she thought Sir Keir should be replaced as Labour leader, Nandy - who represents the Greater Manchester constituency of Wigan and is an ally of Burnham - told the BBC: "No I don't. If I did I wouldn't be in his cabinet."

"I think that we were elected to bring an end to the chaos," she said.

Pressed over whether she thought Sir Keir should run in any leadership contest, the culture secretary said: "He said himself that he will."

She added: "It's a very personal decision for him.

"I haven't spoken to him this weekend but I've spoken to him several times over the last week and obviously he's shown before that he's up for a fight."

She pointed to Sir Keir's landslide general election victory in 2024, after sceptics said he would not be able to return Labour to power in just one term.

But Nandy said last week's disastrous set of election results for Labour showed "people feel they haven't seen enough fight from us".

She added: "We have fought for people but the message is loud and clear, they want to see us on the pitch fighting harder, speaking louder and doing more."

Nandy, who was out campaigning alongside Burnham in Makerfield on Saturday, said: "We were hearing that loud and clear.

"People want that and they want voices from our part of the country and from all of those parts of the country that have been written off for too long to be heard much louder and clearer at the heart of government."