Wes Streeting has indicated he is preparing to challenge Sir Keir Starmer in a Labour leadership contest as early as next week.
The former health secretary has urged the prime minister to set out a timetable for his departure if Andy Burnham wins Thursday’s Makerfield by-election.
Mr Streeting said he wanted Sir Keir to make a decision to leave “on his own terms”, but told BBC Newsnight: “We can’t carry on with this uncertainty and paralysis, and there will need to be a contest, and I’d be prepared to do that.”
On how soon he would be willing to mount a challenge, Mr Streeting said he did not want to get into it, but that Sir Keir should be given “space over the weekend” to consider his position.
The ex-cabinet minister insisted he has the backing of 80 MPs required to stand in a contest, while Mr Burnham is widely expected to launch his own campaign should he return to Westminster.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir told reporters at the G7 summit that he would prove his rivals wrong and “carry on with what I was elected to do” as he fights for his political future.
