UK Business Secretary Peter Kyle confirmed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is actively reflecting on 'political realities' as pressure mounts for his departure. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, Kyle revealed that Starmer has been 'engaging conversations with a wide, wide range of people, including myself' and working 'really hard over this weekend' to consider the challenges and opportunities facing his leadership. However, Kyle declined to engage in speculation, stating he had 'nothing to believe that they are true' regarding reports of an imminent resignation announcement. Kyle emphasized that he hadn't spoken to the prime minister since a 'very detailed' conversation on Friday, which he described as 'personal' and 'private'.
Labour's Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, has won the Makerfield by-election with 54.8% of the vote, defeating Robert Kenyon of Reform UK who secured 35%. The victory announced June 18 on a turnout that climbed to almost 59% cements Burnham's status as the leading contender to replace embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party and the country. Burnham received 24,927 votes, defeating Kenyon by 9,200 votes, as reported by Al Jazeera. The by-election turnout, which usually falls, reading as a genuine mandate, has strengthened Burnham's claim to be Labour's biggest asset. On Polymarket, the crypto-settled prediction market, traders have wagered more than $11 million on the succession and make Burnham the clear favorite to take over.
Burnham ranks among the few senior Labour figures to openly back digital assets, telling about 100 Web3 founders at a Stand With Crypto event that he was 'bought in'. He told crypto founders: 'Manchester was the home of the Industrial Revolution. Let's make it the home of the web3 revolution.' This pro-Web3 stance clashes with Starmer's recent crackdown on crypto, as his government imposed a moratorium on crypto donations to political parties in March following the independent Rycroft Review's warning about crypto's anonymity masking foreign money entering UK politics. Reform UK, Britain's most crypto-forward party, and one of only three that had agreed to accept crypto at all, was defeated by Burnham.
The political risk has already reached bond markets, with the 10-year gilt yield rising to about 4.8% on Friday as investors weigh a Burnham government they expect to borrow and spend more freely. Sterling weakened alongside the increased borrowing expectations. For crypto markets, Bitcoin traded near $63,900, up less than 1% on the day but down about 17% over the month and 38% on the year, sitting well below its October record near $126,000. The turmoil has produced no clear safe-haven bid, with any read-through depending on a shrinking retail base - crypto ownership among UK adults has slipped to about 8%, down from 12% a year earlier, according to the FCA.
Burnham is due to swear in as a member of Parliament within days, at which point he will automatically lose his post as Greater Manchester mayor. That will trigger a by-election in Manchester, and it will be a Labour priority to retain the mayoralty. Cabinet ministers, union leaders and party donors have all joined talks about the timing of a handover, with Starmer insisting he will fight any challenge. Peter Kyle indicated he would accept a position in a Burnham cabinet, telling the BBC he would 'grab it with both hands' because it's 'a privilege of a lifetime' and 'changing lives and creating jobs around our country'. However, allies of Burnham indicated he wasn't interested in such an offer. A Burnham premiership could still soften the tone toward Web3 after a year of tighter UK crypto rules, though bond investors look more worried about his spending than his digital-asset views.
