Politics latest: Starmer resigns as prime minister Andy Burnham, who became an MP on 19 June after winning the Makerfield by-election, is looking likely to be crowned leader without any other contenders. Key dates and how a Labour leadership contest works Labour's ruling body has yet to formally confirm the timetable. But Sir Keir has said he would like nominations to open on 9 July - a day after the NATO summit, which he looks likely to attend. Any Labour MP who wants to be on the final ballot will have to get the backing of at least 20% of Labour MPs, which is currently 81 (including themselves). Candidates must also be nominated by at least 5% of constituency parties, or at least three "affiliates" - two of which must be trade unions - which represent a minimum of 5% of the affiliated membership. Labour Party affiliates consist of 11 major trade unions, Labour's sister Co-operative Party, and more than 20 socialist societies. When will nominations close? Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), has said it will agree a timetable for the election of the next leader "shortly". Sky News understands it could be 16 July, when parliament begins its summer recess. Who can vote? After nominations close, all Labour Party members who have continuously been members for at least six months before the timetable is announced are eligible to vote. Each eligible voter has just one vote, so they cannot vote as an individual and as a trade union member. Members vote by ranking candidates in order of preference (the alternative vote system). How many votes are needed to win? The winner must receive more than half of the votes cast. If no candidate receives that total as a first preference, then votes are redistributed according to preferences until one candidate secures at least half the votes. When will a new leader be in place? A winner is usually announced a couple of days after nominations close. Starmer said following a contest, a new leader will be in place by 1 September, when parliament returns from recess. What happens if only one MP gets enough nominations? Then that's the end of the contest. That MP will become leader of the Labour Party, and therefore prime minister. Sky News understands the new leader would then be in place shortly after the vote, by 17 or 18 July - so they, not Sir Keir, would be in post for the World Cup final on 19 July as PM. They would have been flung straight into an EU summit in Brussels on 22 July to discuss the "reset" in relations between London and the EU. However, the EU has now said it will postpone the summit because of the PM resigning. Mr Burnham has previously supported rejoining the EU in the "long-term", but recently denied he would campaign for it. Read more: The charts that tell us why Starmer resigned Who will stand? Mr Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election on Friday, has said he will stand, with allies saying he is hoping for at least 200 nominations. Wes Streeting, who recently resigned as health secretary over Sir Keir's leadership, previously said he was going to stand, but he has now said he will not and will back Mr Burnham instead. Sir Keir will not stand, even though he would automatically be on the ballot if he wanted to. Any other MP could put themselves forward, but they must get 80 other MPs to support them to be on the ballot paper. Due to numbers, a maximum of five MPs can be on the ballot paper.

Davis's family members told Sky News' US partner NBC News that the former Columbia Records president died on Monday in his Manhattan apartment. Earlier this year, Davis was hospitalised after suffering an upper respiratory issue. He was released a few days later. Davis's family said the music producer had made an "indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations" in a statement shared on his social media. "To the world, our father was the iconic music legend whose vision, instincts, and relentless pursuit of excellence shaped the soundtrack of countless lives," they said. "He discovered, mentored, and championed the greatest artists in modern music history, leaving an indelible mark on culture that will endure for generations." Davis rose from being a record company lawyer to one of the music industry's most powerful figures. He came to be known as "the man with the golden ear" because of his ability to identify potential hit songs. One of his crowning achievements was launching Houston's career when he signed her to his Arista record label when she was a teenager. She became one of the best-selling artists in pop history. After struggling with drug abuse, Houston died in 2012 just hours before she was due to appear at an annual pre-Grammy Awards party hosted by Davis. The mogul also launched the career of multiple Grammy winner Alicia Keys, as well as signing Patti Smith, Springsteen and Lou Reed. Keys said in a tribute shared on Instagram that Davis was a "visionary who transformed dreams into reality, leaving an indelible mark on music and lives worldwide". In a post on Instagram, Springsteen said: "At 22 years old, he changed my life when he signed me to Columbia Records. "He treated me with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success. A great man." Smith also paid tribute to Davis on social media: "Thanking Clive Davis for transforming music, and on a very personal note, for believing in me, shepherding my efforts and a half century of your love and support," she said. Read more from Sky News:Clarkson reveals prostate cancer is in remissionEx-Federal Reserve head Alan Greenspan dies aged 100 Davis's family said the "towering figure whose influence changed music forever" was also a committed family man. "To his family, Clive was Dad and Granddaddy, the steady presence at the center of our lives, the source of wisdom, strength, encouragement, and unconditional love," they said. "No matter how extraordinary his professional accomplishments, he never lost sight of what mattered most: the people he loved." They added: "Through every chapter of his remarkable life, family remained Clive's greatest pride and deepest joy. "Today, we celebrate not only a towering figure whose influence changed music forever, but the man who led our family with grace, generosity, and kindness. "We will miss him greatly, cherish him always, and carry his love with us for the rest of our lives." He won four Grammys for producing albums by Kelly Clarkson, Carlos Santana and Jennifer Hudson. Davis is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and his partner Greg Schriefer.

Speaking outside Number 10 on Monday morning, the PM said he accepts "with good grace" that Labour MPs do not want him to lead them into the next general election. Politics hub: Follow the latest updates The resignation comes less than two years after Labour's landslide win at the polls in 2024 - so where did it all go wrong? Here are some of the key moments that have contributed to Sir Keir's exit... Mandelson vetting scandal The Peter Mandelson vetting controversy was arguably the most significant scandal Sir Keir faced during his premiership. The influential Labour figure was announced as UK ambassador to the US in December 2024. But less than a year later, in September 2025, Mandelson was fired after leaked emails revealed he remained in contact with Jeffrey Epstein after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution. The release of the Epstein files in February then revealed Lord Mandelson allegedly leaked information to the paedophile financier while serving as a Labour minister in 2009. In the wake of the revelations, Number 10 faced scrutiny over how Mandelson's appointment had been allowed in the first place - and it soon emerged that he had failed the security vetting process. Sir Keir survived the scandal, with his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney taking "full responsibility" for advising the PM to appoint Lord Mandelson and resigning from his position. Gorton and Denton loss Labour's first defeat of the year came in February, when the Greens' Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton by-election. Labour had won the seat at the last general election by over 50%, but found itself pushed into third as Ms Spencer secured 40% of the vote, with Reform candidate Matt Goodwin in second place. The defeat was especially damaging as Sir Keir had blocked Andy Burnham from standing as Labour's candidate in the by-election. 👉 Tap here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 May local election results Less than three months after the Gorton and Denton result, most of the UK went to the polls with elections for councils in England, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Senedd. It was a disaster all round for Labour, with the party losing more than 1,200 English council seats and - for the first time ever - control of the Welsh Senedd. The results led to more than 90 Labour MPs calling for Sir Keir to resign, including his foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and then health secretary Wes Streeting. Approval ratings Labour has struggled in the opinion polls - with Sir Keir's satisfaction ratings falling to the lowest level of any PM in the past 50 years. After winning the general election in July 2024, Labour was initially ahead in the polls for several months. But by October of that year, their rating had dropped below 30% and continued to slide to the mid-20s by early 2025. Read more:How - and when - a new PM will be selectedHow did Starmer fare on his promises? The second year of Sir Keir's premiership saw Labour's ratings fall further, dropping below 20% in October 2025, while Reform opened up a clear and sustained lead. The most recent Ipsos survey, from mid-May, suggested 16% of adults were satisfied with Sir Keir's performance and 76% were dissatisfied. This gave Sir Keir a net approval score of minus 60 - which is lower than any other score recorded by Ipsos for a PM two years after taking office. Burnham's Makerfield victory The final nail in the coffin for Sir Keir's stint as PM came last week, when Mr Burnham sailed to victory with his decisive Makerfield by-election win. The seat's wards had swung hard to Reform in the local elections but swung back just as hard to Labour, with the now former Manchester Mayor securing 54.8% of the votes. The win was vital for Mr Burnham, who needed to secure a seat in Westminster in order to put himself forward for the Labour leadership.

Their seven-wicket win was the Welsh side's first red-ball success against their opponents on home soil since 1983 and dealt Surrey their second defeat of the season. Tom Lawes reached 66 not out as Surrey added a creditable 49 to their overnight total to set Glamorgan 195 to win. County Championship scorecardsBrendon McCullum says Ben Stokes relationship not tarnishedStuart Broad: England defeat shows how they need Ben StokesEngland thrashed by 253 runs as New Zealand level Test series The hosts struggled to assert themselves, with Billy Root run out after just four balls, but Carlson steadied the Welsh side with a fine 67 before Colin Ingram and Sean Dickson combined to ease them home. Captain Craig Overton completed his third century of the season but Somerset's clash with Warwickshire petered out to a draw in Taunton. Resuming on 219 with four second-innings wickets in hand, Overton and Thomas Rew extended their seventh-wicket stand to 233 before Somerset were bowled out for 435 to lead by 313. Warwickshire's hopes of pressuring that target were dashed by the early losses of Zen Malik and Dan Mousley, and they were stranded on 98 for two when play was abandoned shortly before 5pm due to rain. In Division Two, Durham produced a sterling batting display to turn a likely draw into a six-wicket win over promotion rivals Northamptonshire at Chester-le-Street. The visitors added 50 to their overnight total to set the hosts 296 to win. Durham set about their task with aplomb, Daniel Bedingham's 109 not out and an unbeaten 65 from Colin Ackermann easing them home in emphatic fashion. Fateh Singh took career-best figures of five for 74 as hosts Worcestershire also turned a match that seemed certain to be heading for a draw into a dramatic five-wicket victory over Gloucestershire. Fourteen wickets fell on Monday as Worcestershire, resuming on 59 for one, bowled out their opponents for 185 to set themselves a mere 87 to snatch victory. The hosts wobbled, with Daniel Lategan departing to a third-ball duck and Graeme van Buuren finishing with four for 36 but it was all in vain as Worcestershire limped over the line for the loss of five wickets. Kent beat Middlesex by 49 runs at Canterbury with Matt Milnes finishing with five for 31 in the second innings as the visitors, set a feasible 231 to win, crumbled to 181 all out. Watch the third Test between England and New Zealand, at Trent Bridge, live from 10am on Thursday (11am first ball) on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event. Get instant access with NOW.

In a sign of the changing character of conflict, Lieutenant-General Michael Wright, commander of the Canadian army, told Sky News that he was looking forward to welcoming the troops to the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) in July. "Canada and the United Kingdom, together, are working to reinvigorate Suffield," he said in an interview during a visit to London this week. "It's less about large-scale training, and it's much more about using what is a fantastic training area in Southern Alberta to test the types of capabilities that both of our armies know that we need." Uncrewed systems are in increased focus as Western armies attempt to learn lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine, which has seen expensive tanks destroyed by cheap drones. Around 350 troops from 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment are set to take part in the training in Canada, according to a UK defence source. The soldiers will have the chance to fight with one-way attack drones across a sprawling expanse of land that is at least four times the size of Salisbury Plain. To make the exercise - dubbed Rhino Biz - as realistic as possible, electronic jamming will be used to try to disable the uncrewed systems, the source said. It is the kind of warfare that is being waged between Russia and Ukraine. However, peacetime civil aviation regulations and other restrictions in the UK mean it is difficult for the British Army to train at home on the kind of drones and counter-drone technologies that they would use for real in a war. The Canadian site - because of its size - is more suited to operating this kit, the UK defence source said. Asked whether it is permitted to fly drones at BATUS, Lieutenant-General Wright said: "We are looking to do everything we can to ensure that we have the ability to use the systems we know in the battlefield." A number of drone and counter-drone companies will also take part in the training with the British soldiers. It is evidence of the need for the army to work ever closer with industry to test and adapt to the latest technologies. Embracing uncrewed systems is a challenge that the Canadian army is focused on as well. Lieutenant-General Wright said he would like his soldiers to be as familiar with drones as they are with rifles. He described a new, 22-day course called the Canadian Army Soldier First Course, which requires every service person to "learn how to shoot, move, communicate, but also how to operate a drone, and how to protect themselves against surveillance or a threat of ordnance being dropped from a drone". He said: "It's really making sure that the use of uncrewed systems, both from an offensive and defensive perspective, are one of the core skills of our soldiers." This shift will require an urgent increase in the number of drones in the Canadian army's arsenal. Today, it only has about 1,000 - a woefully inadequate figure. In Ukraine, opposing troops deploy many thousands of drones a day against each other. "We're not there yet in terms of the numbers, but we are moving very aggressively to get as many uncrewed systems into the hands of our soldiers so they can start getting used to operating with them," Lieutenant-General Wright said. The British Army has used the BATUS training ground in Canada since 1972. Read more on Sky News:UK military to be given powers to shoot down threatening drones'We have to get ready for large-scale conflicts,' says Canada's military chief Over the decades, it provided the most realistic large-scale, warfighting training that British soldiers could receive, using live rounds. In 2017, though, budget cuts put the vital training in jeopardy. Back then, four battle groups, each of about 1,200 soldiers, used to train for a month at a time at the facility every year, deploying tanks, artillery and helicopters. The number of battle groups was reduced before all large-scale training was halted during COVID in 2020. It was never fully resumed, with some of the training moved to Oman instead. If the new drone warfare exercise is a success, it is likely the Canada site will once again become a more regular fixture for British Army training.

The 66-year-old confirmed in an interview with The Times that a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test two months ago revealed no sign of the disease. Clarkson revealed in the latest episodes of the fifth season of Clarkson's Farm that he had been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer that had been found early. The TV host has met up with former prime minister Lord David Cameron to talk about their prostate cancer diagnoses with other famous faces. He said: "I was talking to David (Cameron) about it earlier this morning. He said the amount of people that come up to him is mostly in public conveniences and say, if you hadn't owned up to it, I wouldn't have got checked, and they wouldn't have found it. "So now there's a group of us, (food writer) Giles Coren, David, me, one or two other people, and we meet for lunch every so often. "Everybody has different Gleason scores, and everybody has different Stockholm and PSA scores. We all compare notes and I actually get muddled with what mine were." Clarkson said the diagnosis had "landed harder than I thought it would". He added: "This is why I have to say to everybody who's reading this, please, please, please go and get checked. "It's not uncomfortable, it's not undignified, and it's a no-brainer. I did, and that's why I'm sitting here talking to you 11 months down the line." Speaking from a hospital bed at the end of the season finale, Clarkson revealed he had suffered from complications during treatment, which he told The Times had been caused by him resuming a course of tablets for his earlier vascular and cardiac problems. Read more from Sky News:Three people killed following fire in west LondonSky News podcast to become landmark TV show He said: "That was horrific and it was all my own fault." He continued: "Two or three weeks after the cancer operation, I thought I'd better put myself back on those blood thinners. Big mistake, huge." He said it resulted in a "very big emergency in the middle of the night" and the treatment required as a result of that was "horrible". The diagnosis came almost two years after the TV presenter underwent a heart procedure, which saw him fitted with two stents to improve blood flow to the heart. He said his doctor had told him to stop working following the operation and that he had been advised to replace work with golf in a column for The Sun at the time. Clarkson said: "I am without a doubt, officially, the world's luckiest man." The celebrity farmer previously stopped smoking after contracting pneumonia on holiday in Spain. In a post on the X account of his pub, The Farmer's Dog, Clarkson added: "The reason why I'm fine is because the doctors caught the prostate cancer early, and they caught it early because I got tested."

The former Manchester mayor is meeting groups of MPs from Monday, after being sworn in as Labour's newest MP, "to set out to them his programme, in order to win their confidence", Baroness Harman told Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast. Politics latest: Burnham sworn in as MP Questions have surrounded Mr Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election on Friday, about his policies as he looks set to replace Sir Keir Starmer uncontested. If no other Labour MPs get enough nominations (81) to win a place on the ballot, he could become Labour leader, and therefore prime minister, as early as 17 July after nominations close the day before. Baroness Harman, who was in Gordon Brown's cabinet with Mr Burnham, said: "He needs to demonstrate that in the interim period between now and 16 July, that he has won the confidence of the overwhelming majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party. "And what he is doing from today is meeting groups of MPs, meeting them in order to set out to them his programme, in order to win their confidence. "I think he'll need to set out his programme as well to the public, because he hasn't been able to set out his big picture for the future of Britain, what he thinks about Britain's role in the world, what he thinks about major economic issues. "He will need to set all of those out now. "So, we're in for an important period, but he's going to need to keep up the momentum. He's got amazing momentum from that by-election and he's going to need to keep up the pace." Read more: How will a new PM be selected - and when will it happen? She added that Mr Burnham is a "novelty now" but said he has "also got experience because he's been in the cabinet" and has the experience. But, she added: "He's not tainted by this most recent cabinet's travails, so I'm very hopeful." She said when he was culture, media and sports secretary, "he didn't make a huge impact on me until it came to the Hillsborough issue". Mr Burnham was heckled and booed by a crowd of more than 24,000 people while delivering a speech at the 20th anniversary memorial service of the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy. He said this prompted him to change his perspective and persuaded Mr Brown to release all official documents relating to the disaster, leading to the creation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which exposed the widespread police cover-up. He has continued to work closely with the bereaved families. Baroness Harman added: "I saw a real determination that he really stood for something, that this was an unpopular issue to be constantly raising in the cabinet."

Dubois, who dropped Terri Harper en route to beating her rival world champion by unanimous decision in April returns as the UK's unified WBC and WBO lightweight world champion in a 10-round unified championship defence against American Amelia Moore. The bout contested at 135lbs with two-minute rounds features on the undercard of MVPW-06 at the bp pulse LIVE arena in Birmingham on August 29, where every fight on the main card will see a UK vs USA contest. Moses Itauma to fight Filip Hrgovic in high-risk heavyweight boutJoe Joyce insists Daniel Dubois rematch is 'an attractive option'Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOWBaumgardner in the pipeline? Alycia Baumgardner has previously insisted Dubois still needs to prove herself before the American will agree to fight the unified lightweight world champion. Dubois has taken aim at Baumgardner and called her out for a high-profile clash, saying the clash "has to happen sooner rather than later". "She's lost right now," said Dubois. "She's got no opponents. She wanted the Katie Taylor fight but that's not happening, she wanted the Amanda Serrano fight but that's not happening, so who's she going to fight? Absolutely nobody. "There's no one she can step into the ring with that's on my level. I say that with respect but I know I'm her biggest challenger. "We're going to build the fight. I want to become undisputed and then she's got no arguments. All we can do is to build and make that fight unavoidable, unmissable, and undeniable. That happens by me becoming undisputed." A 10-round junior middleweight championship unification fight between Mikaela Mayer and Chantelle Cameron will headline a main card in Birmingham and Dubois said: "It's a close fight - I'm split. Mikaela Mayer has got a bit more dimensions but then I wake up and think Chantelle Cameron is a beast. She's going to bring the pressure and she has the home advantage. "It's a 50-50 fight. I know it's going to be a great fight." 'Taylor is the GOAT' Trainer Shane McGuigan hinted at MVP's interest in a blockbuster showdown with Irish boxing icon Katie Taylor, who is set to end her stellar career with a fight against unbeaten French fighter Flora Pili at Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday September 5. "Katie Taylor is the GOAT," Dubois said. "She's a champion and she deserves to fight whoever she wants to fight. She sold out 80,000 which is phenomenal. It doesn't matter who is in the corner. This is about Katie Taylor. It's not about the fight! "She's getting the moment to sail off into the sunset exactly the way she wants to. I'll be supporting her. No one can discredit who she's fought and who she has been in the ring with and her tenacity throughout the years. "I would 100 per cent be backing myself [if I had the chance to fight her] and it would have been an awesome fight to have. I would have loved to have fought her straight out of the 2012 Olympics. "It's not going to happen and I'm not focussing on that. If there were no other women to fight then I would be upset, but I've got big names." Watch MVPW-06 in Birmingham, headlined by Mikaela Mayer v Chantelle Cameron and with Caroline Dubois also in action, live on August 29 on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.