UK media (Guardian) reports Starmer set to confirm autumn departure on Monday, UK time

An orderly, autumn-dated exit would remove some of the acute uncertainty that has been pressuring sterling, since markets generally prefer a defined timetable over an open-ended leadership crisis. That said, the medium-term picture stays clouded given Burnham's more left-leaning fiscal instincts relative to Starmer, keeping a political risk premium embedded in gilts and GBP/USD until his policy direction becomes clearer.