LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a career-defining decision: step down or fight a challenge from Labour Party rival Andy Burnham.

Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in the post, but pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude his time is up.

Expectation is growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday. That’s the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Sunday that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.”

“I know he is a prime minister who always puts his country first,” Kyle told the BBC, though he said reports that Starmer will resign are “speculation.”

Starmer is spending the weekend at Chequers, the country mansion used by British prime ministers, with his family. He gave no public hint about his decision, but sent a Father’s Day message on social media.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy. Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him,” he wrote on X.

If Starmer quits, he will be the sixth prime minister to leave office in the past 10 years, an extraordinary rate of churn for the United Kingdom.

Discontent with the prime minister has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to........

© The Times of Israel