As Keir Starmer sinks into a grey haze of his own making, and Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, looms as a credible replacement, the question is whether a leadership change would make much difference to the Labour Party’s fortunes ahead.
Keir Starmer’s Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45am London is looking at its most unstable this year with tr Pluto square the Uranus from late March – which can indicate a topple-off- perch moment. Before then at the moment till mid February tr Pluto is conjunct the Mars which is trapped and frustrated. The Solar Arc Pluto will conjunct Saturn exact in 4 months, so unrelenting pressure will ramp up with no obvious relief in sight. Tr Pluto will return on and off till late 2027 squaring the Uranus so the wobbles will not go away.
The Labour Party, 12 February 1906 chart, looks doubly blocked at the moment with the Solar Arc Venus Sun conjunct the Pluto running for several months in effect. Late March into April tr Saturn conjunct the Mars and then square Uranus Neptune look like a run of setbacks for several weeks. Tensions will mount further from late June with tr Uranus square the LP party Saturn on and off into 2027; with a disheartening run of tr Neptune conjunct Mars and square Uranus and Neptune through 2027/28.
Andy Burnham, 7 January 1970, portrays himself as on the soft left of the Labour Party; and was former MP for nearly two decades and in Cabinet posts variously in Health, Culture and Media and Treasury. A Sun, Venus, Moon in Capricorn with Mars in Pisces, he has an up-and-down Jupiter in Scorpio opposition Saturn in Taurus; and an intense Mercury in Capricorn trine Pluto. Tr Pluto is square his Jupiter at the moment and on and off through this year which hints at an ambitious and confident push – but since it pulls on that tricky opposition to Saturn nothing is certain. It looks a jumpy, uncertain year for him.
His relationship chart with the Labour Party is essentially easier than Keir Starmer’s with a fair amount of friendly affection and none of the irritation that plagues Starmer’s chemistry with the LP.
Starmer’s personal chart, 2 September 1962, has been under unbearable pressure in recent times with the SA Sun Pluto conjunct his Neptune for devastating confusion last year and huis Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Sun Pluto this year which is calamitous. Late March into early April has a significant setback with tr Saturn square his Mars in Cancer; at the same time as tr Pluto picks up the conjunction to his Saturn in Aquarius which will make the next two years a really tough trek. As if that was not enough it will be followed in 2027/28 by failure-ridden tr Neptune square his Mars.
The man must be a glutton for punishment.
Starmer’s relationship chart with the Labour Party will be moving into ever more turbulent seas from mid February this year with tr Pluto square the Uranus, running on and off to late 2027. With a separating tr Uranus opposition the composite Sun from May this year onwards.
He must go at some point soon.
Add On: The other Labour Party chart of 27 February 1900 as I faintly recollect was when the party formed and the 1906 was the first in-parliament chart. I tested them out against events some time back and the 1906 seemed to work better against past events though both will have a validity.
The 1900 chart is due for a major shock/jolt with tr Uranus square the Mars come this March into early April followed by an uncertain and undermining tr Neptune square the Saturn late April/May on and off till March 2027. And a serious setback in 2028 with the Solar Arc Mars opposition the Saturn.
It will be interesting to see the results of the by election. The date is 26 Feb, the same day Mars squares Uranus, drawing on the Mars Uranus conjunction of the Labour 2024 term chart. It is also the day Mercury turns retrograde and is sandwiched between two eclipses. The day afterwards the progressed Moon of the Term chart changes from Cancer to Leo. Feels like the results could be significant as this time also fits with Marjorie’s comments on Starmer’s strained relationship with the Labour Party.
The progressed Moon of the Term chart going into Leo (the sign of leadership) is interesting.
Starmer Leadership chart date 4 April 2020 has Mercury/Neptune conjunct at 19 Pisces. Mercury will be turning retrograde at 22 Pisces on 26 February and tracking back to 8 degrees Pisces on 21 March 2026 when it turns Direct in opposition to Starmer’s natal Sun/Pluto. Transiting Venus will be at 19 Pisces on the day of the by election as well.
On 26 February 2026 transiting Neptune/Saturn will be on the descendant of the chart for the moment Starmer entered Buckingham Palace on 5 July 2024 to become Prime Minister.
If the by election is held on 26 February it will be just before the Solar Return on 27 February 2026 for the Labour 1900 chart.
The 1900 chart is going to be impacted by the Mercury retrograde as the planet will turn Direct exactly on its Sun.
Thanks Hugh, it looks like a period when things could come to a head.
Very much so particularly because Mars is forming the last or waning square in its cycle to its position it occupied at the time of the 2024 General Election. It suggests a need for serious re-evaluation of whatever began at that time before further action can be taken.
Burnham facilitated the grooming gangs in Manchester and was a part of it, see Raja Mia’s substack. He should be nowhere near leadership or children or women, if this is true. He should be arrested. He is after the block Moslem vote.
“..if this is true.”
Any thoughts on astrology for us today?
“the block Moslem vote”.
That sounds more like Reform voters than Labour voters.
You can’t pretend that Labour doesn’t court the Islamic vote. And it was Labour held Councils that prevented the police investigations into the Pakistani grooming gangs. Whatever your views on Reform, the victims deserve justice. And what Labour has done is to prevent that from happening. And that is purely to appease the Islamic community.
Could you also look at Wes Streeting’s chart Marjorie in the context of all this? Thanks.
Well we have not had to wait long for Pluto/Mars conjunct Starmer’s leadership chart to kick off over the by-election in Gorton Manchester. It is being reported that the Labour NEC have voted 8-1 to reject Andy Burnham as a short list candidate. Significantly the only person to vote for him was the Deputy Leader who was recently elected to that role by the party membership instead of Starmer’s preferred candidate. There was a very real chance Labour would lose this seat before this decision and is looking even more likely now. It would seem Starmer would rather see a rival party win than risk Burnham being elected. It should be noted that Labour is increasingly looking divided on a North/South split under Starmer. Given his government have cancelled local elections for 4 million voters in England he is creating the grounds for a rather big constitutional crisis in the UK particularly as Plaid and the SNP look to be about to inflict damage on Labour in the Welsh and Scottish election in May 2026. Starmer’s landslide victory in 2024 was always weakened by the fact it was built in not much more than 34% of the popular vote. It must be looking even shakier now as many Labour members and voters are not going to be happy about the way Burnham’s application has been treated.
Starmer has his Saturn at 5 Aquarius. So that Pluto-Mars conjunction will be very close to his Saturn. Then tr Mars will cross his Saturn.
In the Labour’s 190O Chart. Which was another February Chart, Saturn transiting Pisces will transit Labour’s MC, whilst in sextile to the 1900 Labour Chart Saturn in Capricorn . All very Saturnian and strengthening a leadership or authoritative challenge! That Chart also has its Saturn/Sun midpoint at circa 5 degrees of Aquarius, which sits on Starmer’s Saturn. Although Burnham has to be elected first and the Labour Party have to endorse him as a Leadership Candidate – which takes more than a few months. It does look like a slow undermining operation for now, which isn’t good for the U.K and will ebb away his authority. As Saturn in Pisces Earth/Water can get bogged down. It feels a bit like ground hog day, as we have been through the Leadership changes with the Conservatives. Now another drawn out conflict?
I use the 27 February 1900 chart for Labour as it seems to align with major events in the party’s history better than the 1906 one. Saturn was also in a similar place when Blair was about to triumph.
The big transits over the next few years to the Labour 1900 chart will be Pluto conjunct the natal Moon and Uranus aspecting the natal mutable T Square. This particular Uranus transit has usually corresponded with electoral success interestingly, apart from in the early 80s when it was overshadowed by transiting Neptune aspecting the same T Square and the natal Labour Mercury.
Pluto was opposite the Labour 1900 chart’s Moon in 1945.
This article explains it better (this is a very interesting site to read in general):
https://astrologyresearch.co.uk/where-next-for-the-labour-party/
The problem that Starmer has is reflected in the absence of major planets in fire signs. Otherwise he represents a reaction against the showiness of his immediate predecessors and his main selling point is that he is not Boris or Truss (or indeed Farage).
He does that well, it is good that we have some boring politicians. However he is rather reactive.
Burnham has a preponderance of earth signs. Oddly light on fire and air signs.My feeling is that he will be popular “up north” but this is not where elections are won.
Both he and Starmer seem to me in their different ways to be backward looking- but that is the state of UK politics. Burnham will have the benefit of some Jupiter which should help provided it does not expand flaws.
In these circumstances change will come as a shock.
It was announced just before 5PM today (just under an hour ago) that Andy Burnham has put his name forward to be the Labour candidate for the constituency of Gorton and Denton, whose MP stood down due to ill health.
(For Americans; constituency = congressional district; and in the UK, constituencies are named after their main town centres or locations, not numbered)
The Labour NEC (National Executive Committee), dominated by Keir Starmer followers, will have to approve the candidature soon. I think the deadline for submissions of names to be candidate to the returning officer is midnight tomorrow night.
Thanks for this! An interesting announcement in the last few minutes of Neptune in Pisces…
Burnham fits the template of a political leader rather better than Starmer. He has a much wider experience in both central and local government than the current Prime Minister. He fits the template of a political leader better than Starmer whose instincts are those of an international lawyer not a politician. Rather bizarrely while Starmer promotes the rules based order and democracy aboard his government have a rather more cavalier approach to such things at home as the recent controversy over local elections shows. Jupiter in the 9th House of the Labour government chart highlights the law and the justice system as a major issue. The fact it is in Gemini might indicate a certain inconsistency to the subject.
The Pluto/Mars conjunction on 27 January 2026 falls exactly on Starmer’s Leadership Mars at 3 Aquarius and close to his natal Saturn at 5 Aquarius so he is facing a big challenge currently.
For the UK at the moment the major problem is that none of the recent leaders or governments of whatever party appear to have anything remotely approaching a coherent plan for dealing with the nations structural failings. As many feared the Starmer government has spent far too much time in trying to micro manage some things while essentially achieving little in areas such as housing, water, social care etc which are in crisis.
That is a very interesting analysis, especially the last part, it makes me think as Starmer is a Virgo (and l am one) that attending to details and not seeing the wood for the trees is a failing of this sign, he certainly is guilty of this. Surely he cannot last much longer?
Sun/Pluto in Virgo suggests an almost overwhelming compulsion to control by micro management. The leitmotif of the Starmer government is that almost every decision is backed up by some sort of reference to procedure, the rule book or legalese sometimes of dubious interpretation. The arguments for cancelling local elections or for stopping Burnham making the short list are all wrapped up in claims of cost or that it will somehow distract from the other things being done by local or central government. These are really rather weak political or moral justifications for overriding a core element of democracy which is the ability to regularly vote for a candidate of one’s choice. They are, however, exactly the sort of thing that a Sun/Pluto lawyer like Starmer might use.
Of course, those who live by the law are also potentially going to get judged by their adherence to it as well. There are some potential legal challenges facing Starmer over the cancelling the local elections and the Chagos islands which may be about to embarrass him. The Labour governments 9th House Jupiter in Gemini sitting square Starmer’s Sun/Pluto suggests some potential battles for control in the area. In particular Gemini is not noted for its consistency in adhering to its claimed principles. Like its opposite sign of Sagittarius is prone to a certain amount of “flexibility” in applying such strictures to themselves.
Add to the list Rwanda now suing the UK government ‘for forgetting to terminate the contract’
Burnham probably won’t want to upend his life, for a seat that more than likely will go to the Greens. I understand that being Lord Mayor, is rather a cushy job and extremely well paid. Nevertheless less, it was foolhardy of Starmer to neglect making Andy a proper member of the House of Lords, by making him a Lord. And that would have put paid to his ambitions to be Prime Minister. And would stop him being a thorn in Starmer’s side.
I won’t be surprised if Burnham turns out to be stalking horse for Angela Rayner.
Rayner has already announced her support to Burnham.
Just a clarification. Andy Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester, not the Lord Mayor of Manchester. The Lord mayor of Manchester is the ceremonial head of the City of Manchester, which is the small old city at the centre of Greater Manchester.
This is very similar to the difference between Sadiq Khan, Mayor of (Greater) London and the Lord mayor of the City of London, the annually elected Lord Mayor of the Square Mile at the heart of Greater London that was founded by the Romans.
Andy Burnham can just turn down any moves to make him a peer/Lord.
Hello Linda…he’s not Lord Mayor, which is a ceremonial role, he is the man who is responsible for running the city like Sadiq Khan in London. Highly doubtful he would want to be in the Lords….that would rule out being PM!
Kudos to Starmer for slamming Trumps vile slur against British and other Nato allies who gave their lives and service in Afghanistan, post 9/11.
King Charles should cancel his April visit to the White House unless Trump apologises.
The King’s visit should be cancelled, come what may. Hopefully, Starmer will reconsider and find a way to get the King out of this. Associating with Trump in any shape or form simply weakens the monarchy. Starmer will be gone, but the monarchy will have to continue to live with the misjudgement.