Where does Burnham's huge victory leave Starmer - and can he still survive?

Where are we at as we go into the weekend after a remarkable and consequential week in British politics?

For now, all is quiet. Andy Burnham has been whisked away from the frontline to spend the weekend with his family, while Sir Keir Starmer has gone to Chequers to reflect on his future with his family.

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Senior party figures tell me not to expect any public interventions of top Labour figures this weekend, but there is of course, a huge amount going on – and the next few days are going to be critical: As one Burnham ally put it to me on Friday, the prime minister can have a dignified exit or a bloody one, but the die is cast, Burnham is going to become the prime minister.

So, what's going on for Sir Keir?

He has been adamant that he would fight any contest, and that is what he repeated when he faced the cameras on Friday.

But one of those who have had conversations with him tells me that behind closed doors, it is beginning to hit home that he might have to give way, as a growing number of the cabinet and his MPs indicate that he no longer has their support.

As Harriet Harman put it to me and Ruth Davidson on our Electoral Dysfunction podcast: "The herd isn't moving; it is stampeding... The Parliamentary Labour Party have made a decision that they're not hanging around with Keir Starmer.

"We don't want a situation where cabinet ministers are resigning to try and push Keir Starmer out," says Harman.

"One MP who's been a real big Keir Starmer supporter, who's now signed up for Andy Burnham, said to me that he doubts there's even 30 MPs now who actually believe it's possible for Keir Starmer to stay, not that they necessarily don't want him to stay, but they just feel it's over."

The scale of Burnham's victory – much bigger than anticipated – has sealed the deal with many MPs, who are now convinced that Burnham is the one that will help Labour keep Reform from its heartlands and save the party from another terrible set of election results next May.

"The idea that we can beat Reform has gripped the party," said one senior figure.

"The notion is settling that Andy is the only hope, and members are excited that there's a change; their areas won't be taken over by Reform," says one senior source.

There is little appetite for a leadership race on the Burnham side or the wider party.

Sir Keir has publicly warned that it will tear the party apart, while one cabinet minister told me it would be "awful" to get to a place where the prime minister and rivals tear pieces out of each other in public, trashing the Labour government and destroying Sir Keir's legacy.

Wes Streeting has been very vocal about the need for one and says he will run. Others whisper that it might be that he and Burnham do a deal. There are lots of ifs and buts in all of this...

I'm told by party insiders that when it comes to MPs, "probably the majority" want the PM to stand down by party conference in September, while a "sizeable number" of cabinet colleagues are privately telling the PM he needs to set out a timetable. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, was the latest to do so on Friday.

The prime minister told me last week that he would speak to Burnham after the weekend, while Burnham's team also wants a meeting between the two men next week. Many in the party hope that Starmer and Burnham might come to an agreement and arrange something between them.

There is a lot of upset and sadness among those around the prime minister as the walls close in and Sir Keir's departure becomes more inevitable.

"I feel a sense of bereavement," said one loyalist. "But it hasn't worked out. I never thought we'd be here two years in."

For my part, having interviewed the PM on his future a number of times, I think he would like to fight on if he could, and his allies point out to me that "the PM's agency in this shouldn't be underestimated". He has built a £100,000 war chest to fight a contest and has key staff and a leadership website ready to go.

But if Sir Keir does not have enough support in his cabinet or his parliamentary party, might he conclude that he cannot fight on?

That's why what the cabinet, senior ministers and Labour MPs do in the coming days is so critical.

(c) Sky News 2026: Where does Burnham's huge victory leave Starmer - and can he still survive?