Mark Paul

I think it's very, very difficult for a cabinet, for a prime minister to stay on, and not just with the amount of MPs who have called for him to go.

I mean, that number alone, he could probably survive.

But it's the fact that...

split in his cabinet i mean i was there yesterday at his great big reset speech and in waterloo in the coin street neighborhood center and which was the speech that was billed as his fight back the speech where he was going to convince all of these wavering mps that he really was the man and to lead labor ahead but i think within about five or ten minutes of it starting everybody in the room knew that this was going to fall flat and fall flat is what happened indeed and it was

You know, the calls for him to go among certain MPs had already started before that speech.

Most of those early MPs were supporters and backers of Andy Burnham, and that was a kind of a coordinated wave, and they used coordinated language.

Most of them said something like they wanted an orderly transition to a new leader.

That is code for don't have a leadership contest too soon because we want our man Andy Burnham to be in it after the speech and later into yesterday afternoon.

acolytes and his outriders come into view.

Depends on how quickly a leadership contest is held.

Wes Streeting has been prepared for this for months and months and months.

His allies, he's had a plan in place for months.

For months he's been fending off accusations from Number 10 that he was plotting.

But he was ready for this moment.

Wes Streeting

huge support amongst the Labour Party membership in the way that Andy Burnham would have or Angela Rayner would have.

West Sweden could also be sure that if he goes for it, if he tries to force an early leadership contest and force a swift timetable, that somebody from the soft left of the party will challenge him if Burnham is not there to do so.

But I think Angela Rayner at the moment, for the moment, she has moved into the Burnham camp and that is clear.

I mean, she's made several calls for Burnham to be allowed to run in a by-election to come back.

But, you know, if a contest is held before Burnham is eligible to take part, well, then you wouldn't rule Andrew Rayner for standing out or somebody else on the soft left.