Britons warned of a 'summer of Keir Starmer' as PM clings on to leadership

Reflecting on the mounting pressure on the Prime Minister to resign, Mr Atkinson pinpointed when the best time would have been to "topple" the Labour leader.

He said: "We were promised the summer of sex, perhaps instead we're going to have the summer of Starmer.

"Because I find with all this leadership speculation that the longer it drags on, the more the forces of inertia work in the Prime Minister's favour."

He argued: "If you wanted to topple him, probably last week was the best time to do so in the immediate aftermath of the local elections."

Mr Atkinson warned Britons the longer Sir Keir holds on to power, the more "hurdles other candidates will have to surmount" to remove him.

He said: "I think you actually will see potentially an end to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, potentially sort of continuing stagnation or even ends with the conflict in the Ukraine.

"And all of a sudden, the economy might start to recover, England might win the World Cup, and actually, Labour MPs will realise that they want to cling to nurse for fear of something worse."

Mr Atkinson named the ideal candidate who could potentially beat Sir Keir and replace him as leader.

He argued: "I think it's rather an unusual and unlikely situation, but nonetheless, there is a path towards it. And I think the candidate best placed to beat Keir Starmer is Andy Burnham. But of course, first he has to get back into Parliament to do so.

"And I think actually if Labour members and MPs are given a contest between Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner or Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting, especially after he's clung on for another month or two into the autumn, then Keir Starmer may remain Prime Minister and indeed he might improve in the job - who knows, stranger things have happened."

Questioned by host Emily Carver on Labor possibly wanting to rejoin the European Union in future, Mr Atkinson warned it could be the "last roll of the dice" for the Government, particularly in the red wall.

He explained: "Well, I think the Prime Minister hasn't ruled it out being in a future Labour manifesto, but nonetheless, I think it would be a real sort of last roll of the dice.

"Because obviously Labour MPs would like to be back in the European Union, Labour members would like to be back in the European Union, but the EU read British papers too, and they understand that and say whatever terms that we were offered to rejoin would potentially mean a much greater contribution to the EU budget, potentially adopting the Euro."

Mr Atkinson predicted: "I think what we'll continue to see is what we've seen of this Government so far, which is sort of opting back into various different parts of the European Union, sort of taking a sort of gentle step towards rejoining. But I think going the full hog would be potentially to bolster that."

Mr Atkinson concluded that Sir Keir has "a greater chance of surviving than one might expect".

He told GB News: "He's not a thinker, really. He is a void, and I'm not a great enthusiast for Keir Starmer, but I think Starmer does want to stay on.

"I think what we've seen over the last couple of weeks is that Keir Starmer may have no actual interest in politics and there might be very little going on inside his head.

"But he is a man who likes to win, and he's not a man who wants to be forced out by his MPs by circumstances."

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