'Starmer expected to announce exit' and 'Game over'











The Guardian says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will announce he is standing down later this morning. It says he and his aides have been working since Saturday on his resignation speech, which he will deliver outside Downing Street. One cabinet minister tells the paper "in the last 12 to 14 hours a shift appears to have taken place in his mind".
The Daily Telegraph says Labour MP Andy Burnham wants a transition period, possibly taking over by September, to prepare policies and assemble a team. But the Daily Mirror says allies of Burnham are pushing for a "quick coronation". Its front page has a picture of Sir Keir sitting alone in an empty football stand with the headline: "Game Over".
The Times reports that former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who managed Burnham's campaign in the Makerfield by-election, is taking pitches from Labour MPs about the jobs they would be interested in having under a new administration, although no decisions have been taken yet. The paper says Sir Keir has spoken to "almost no-one except his wife" this weekend and that she has urged him to fight on. Its reporting also says Burnham has been warned against appointing Ed Miliband as his chancellor, over fears he is not sufficiently pro-business.
The i Paper says former Health Secretary Wes Streeting appealed directly to Burnham for the job of chancellor when campaigning for him in Makerfield on 8 June. The Financial Times says some Streeting supporters believe he will withdraw his leadership ambitions if offered a senior position in a future government.
The Sun describes Sir Keir as "furious" with Burnham, and says the pair have not spoken since the Makerfield result. A Labour MP tells the paper that his paid intern has been through a more rigorous recruitment process than any of the candidates to replace the prime minister.
And the Daily Mail says that Burnham is facing pressure from MPs on Labour's left to tear up manifesto pledges to keep income tax and VAT unchanged in order to fund new commitments. The paper's editorial concludes, when mulling a Burnham administration: "He is morally obliged to explain the direction in which he wants to go and ask the people whether they would be prepared to travel with him. That can only be done by way of a general election".

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