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LONDON — Business Secretary Peter Kyle, known as the most reliably upbeat defender of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, appeared on Sunday morning television programs with a visible sadness that suggested he knew the prime minister was finished, according to a political sketch in The Guardian.

Kyle, a Starmer loyalist who has served as the government’s go-to spokesperson for positive messaging across the full range of policy, appeared on both the Trevor Phillips show on Sky News and Laura Kuenssberg’s program on the BBC. The Guardian’s sketch writer John Crace described Kyle as “Tigger personified” — a man who could deliver good news on any subject. But Sunday was “too much even for Peter,” Crace wrote.

“As a bit of denial set in again, so the sadness crept up a notch,” Crace wrote. “He had no idea if the rumours Keir was planning to resign were right, because ‘I have nothing to believe that they are true.’”

Kyle confirmed that he had spoken with Starmer on Friday at length. He told interviewers the prime minister had been “calm and thoughtful” and had not once put his own self-interest first — “everything had been about what was best for the country,” according to the Guardian account. But when asked what advice he had given Starmer, Kyle clammed up, saying the meeting had been “private and confidential” and it would be a “betrayal” to give details.

“He’s reflecting on the realities,” Kyle observed — language Crace described as “political speak for a candid admission that he was a goner.”

The business secretary then attempted to row back from his own characterization. He said he and Starmer were “just working hard to deliver what was best for the country,” a phrase he repeated more than a dozen times across both programs.

Late on Saturday, reports emerged that Starmer was planning to announce his resignation on Monday. The Guardian noted that not a single Starmer loyalist was publicly dampening down that speculation — a telling sign that the prime minister’s allies had concluded the game was over.

“The longer the interviews went on, the harder it became to watch,” Crace wrote. “It was like being granted a window into Kyle’s soul.”

Labour MP Jess Phillips, speaking on the same BBC program, told Kuenssberg bluntly: “I’ve no idea what will happen. But the only question is how to beat Reform.” The Guardian described that as “the heart of it” — a sign that the party’s internal focus had shifted from governing to defeating the Reform UK party.

By the end of the summer, the UK will be on its seventh prime minister in 10 years.