Could there really be a push for new Labour leadership so soon after a crushing general election win? "Inside Labour there might not be a vacancy but there is always a contest," said The New Statesman 's political editor George Eaton. And the government's declining approval ratings "means this is even truer than usual".

Starmer's troubles have opened the door for others to begin "positioning for a post-Starmer world", said Eaton. That includes Labour's two most prominent devolved leaders, the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham , and London's mayor, Sadiq Khan , who have made recent interventions that pile more pressure on Starmer.

'Unifying the popular left'

Khan has been a long-time ally of Starmer, but his recent contradictions of the government could lead "some to conclude that

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