Andy Burnham has made a bold threat to Keir Starmer, but could he actually unseat the Prime Minister? Eliot Wilson takes a look

It is hard to think of a premiership which has moved as quickly as Sir Keir Starmer’s from overwhelming electoral success to almost daily blows. Just 15 months ago, Labour won a majority in the House of Commons of 172, the fourth largest a single party has ever achieved, rubbing shoulders with Tony Blair’s greatest triumphs.

Now the Prime Minister’s personal favourability rating is -50, and more than two-thirds of voters disapprove of the government’s record. Reform UK has topped every survey since April, and some polls suggest you could throw a blanket over Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for a distant second place. If Starmer’s unpopularity is not a record – hardly setting the bar high – there has rarely been a decline so steep.

Trouble at party conference

Yesterday the Labour Party’s annual conference began in Liverpool. Starmer loyalists have billed this as a chance to draw a line and focus on the way ahead; clearly declaring “phase two” of the government at the beginning of September did not work, followed........

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