What a mess. In the space of 24 hours, Sir Keir Starmer has doubled his chances of being ousted by his party – and all at the hands of his closest aides.
Following authoritative reports in The i Paper at the weekend about the rising threat to Starmer’s leadership, his aides hit back in a series of co-ordinated briefings on Monday evening, accusing Health Secretary Wes Streeting of mustering support to depose the Prime Minister.
Last night, Streeting said he wouldn’t seek the Labour leadership. He might think again now. Starmer’s supporters had hoped their vow to confront any coup and battle any leadership contest would force the Health Secretary to show his hand. Instead, Downing Street has accidentally made him a more appealing candidate.
It’s unlikely Starmer personally authorised the anti-Streeting briefing that appeared overnight. He denied doing so in the House of Commons at lunchtime. But by distancing himself from the smears he allowed Kemi Badenoch her first clear win at Prime Minister’s Questions.
No wonder the Conservative leader chuckled as she quoted The i Paper and accused Starmer of losing control of his office and his party.
He also gave licence to the clearly furious Streeting – who had an entire morning’s media round to fill – to slam the “toxic” culture in No 10. Streeting also criticised briefings about the risks of a possible coup as an attempt “to kneecap” him and denied he had any ambition to supplant the Prime Minister. On his media outings he also showed political deftness, a contrast to No 10’s clunking ineptitude.
The Tories, who have made undermining No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney a proxy for getting rid of Starmer, were therefore presented with yet another opportunity. Starmer was forced to defend his aide once again in the Commons.
But a Labour source questioned whether McSweeney was the only aide to blame, suggesting Starmer’s communications chief Tim Allan could have been involved. Allan was a Tony Blair-era adviser, brought into Starmer’s Government in September.
“It’s the kind of manoeuvre that worked in slapping down a mouthy backbencher in 1998, but backfires when it’s your close ally in the Cabinet today,” the source said. Downing Street declined to comment on Allan.
On Wednesday No 10 insiders told The i Paper staffers “seem pretty bemused by the idea it is an anti-Wes thing”, and that any briefing had been done in general terms about how Starmer would fight on if challenged.
Your next read
square CALLUM MASONToday’s pensioners need to realise how lucky they are
square HAMISH MCRAEA good retirement is working past 80 and no cruises – no, really
square IAN DUNTI have always backed Starmer – until now
square REBECCA REIDAndrew’s new name is proof – he’s as common as the rest of us
Starmer’s political spokesperson also told reporters that smears against Streeting in particular were “a series of quotes attributed to outside Downing Street”.
“The problem is the shoe fits. This is how they have operated since before the election. So, it’s extremely believable that this is the people in No 10. This is what they do. They go after their own people,” a Government source said.
What is now clear is that what was intended as a calculated show of strength has in fact had the opposite effect. On Wednesday a fresh anger erupted among Labour MPs despairing of Starmer’s perceived weakness amid accusations of a “bunker mentality” in No 10. And everyone knows how those situations tend to end.
Hence then, the article about keir starmer is now weaker than ever was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Keir Starmer is now weaker than ever )
Also on site :