Fifteen months on from a landslide election victory, even some of Sir Keir Starmer’s closest allies say they still don’t know what he stands for.
His big eve-of-conference announcement, reviving a Tony Blair-era policy to introduce a digital ID, simply confirmed what some MPs had already suspected. This floundering administration has no driving narrative, with Starmer listening to whichever advisor last had his ear.
The vacuum left by several recent key departures has led to a fresh power struggle in No 10 between senior advisers who are vying for influence.
Last week Starmer’s head of communications, Steph Driver, a loyalist who had served him in opposition, quit. She is a rare combination, as both her staff and journalists like her, but she was demoted after New Labour comms veteran Tim Allan was appointed in early September.
The sexism of appointing a man into the job held by a woman has not gone unnoticed by already demoralised No 10 staff, who watched the departure of another loyalist, Paul Ovenden, the week before.
Some thought Starmer should have fought harder to hold on to Ovenden, who quit over the leak of a cache of eight-year-old internal Labour Party messages.
Allan, who was Blair’s advisor from 1992-98, and set up public affairs consultancy Portland Communications, came into No 10 on the advice of Louise Casey.
Casey, who is lead Non-Executive Director for the Cabinet Office, has made herself indispensable to Starmer and is now one of his most valued advisors.
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But a senior ally of the prime minister – who wants Starmer to succeed – posed the question: why has he let so many loyal lieutenants leave, only to bring in “mercenary” guns-for-hire who had their heyday in the 1990s and 2000s? “Keir’ll soon have no friends left, and he needs them more than ever,” the source said.
Allan came into Government pointing out that the simplicity of New Labour’s simple messaging had been from which all its comms flowed. Those slogans included, “Forward not back” and “New Labour, New Britain.”
But just weeks into the job, already some Cabinet members are questioning whether Starmer has hired the right man for the job. A document Allan circulated, which contains the narrative to push for party conference was seen by some insiders as uninspiring.
Others are more complimentary about Allan. One Government special advisor described him as “calm.” The spad also quipped: “He made so much f*****g money at Portland he must know what he’s doing.”
Last week’s co-production by the Conservatives and the Daily Mail to oust Starmer’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney has so far failed to take flight.
On Friday, the Electoral Commission ruled McSweeney’s former employer Labour Together – the think tank which saw off Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader and propelled Starmer into office – had no fresh case to answer over unregistered donations.
There is no doubt McSweeney has become a lightning rod for dissatisfaction among Labour MPs, although there are no signs of him going anywhere soon.
MPs are looking to newly appointed Minister for No 10, Darren Jones, as an alternative pathway to voice their dissatisfaction to Starmer.
When Jones was appointed to the newly created job as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, there was no clear idea of how he would slot in.
In early September, days after Jones entered No 10, Deputy Chief of Staff Vidhya Alakeson told a meeting of special advisors that Starmer’s senior team was still working out how freshly reorganised structures might work.
“We’ll figure out the policy unit, and we’ll figure out how we work with Darren. We should have done it before Monday, but we’ll do it in real time,” she told the staffers.
Three weeks on, Jones himself appears to have a clearer idea of what the job entails.
“Darren is going round telling MPs he is the route to get what we want from No 10 and they should go through him not Morgan,” a party aide told The i Paper.
Insiders deny any rift between the pair, pointing out McSweeney and Jones enjoyed breakfast together in Liverpool on Sunday morning.
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If the premier is to face a challenge next year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and other members of the Cabinet would be in a powerful position to run, a Labour MP said. “Wes could run the numbers; it’s not clear Darren is in that position yet. But he is clearly reaching out to the PLP,” they said.
One Downing Street insider said the decision to appoint Jones is symptomatic of Starmer’s technocratic tendency. “He’s bright and studious, and has done that job at the Treasury well, but he’s not massively political, and that’s what is lacking in No 10.”
It’s a point Lucy Powell, vying to be Labour’s deputy leader, also made last week in an interview with The i Paper. She said she wants to bring “the politics” back into the discussion at the top of Government.
On Sunday, Starmer was doing his best to show he’s simultaneously listening to criticism and not going anywhere.
Appearing on the BBC, the prime minister said he will be “judged at the next election” on whether he has improved living standards, the NHS and security. “But I just need the space to get on and do what we need to do.”
Some Labour MPs think Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s ill-advised tilt for the leadership last week has done Starmer nothing but a favour, concentrating minds there is currently no standout alternative to the prime minister.
But the same people also think Starmer needs to get out and tell a better story.
He needs to make political arguments for ID cards, against Reform UK, why there should be a further push for welfare reform and to stop blaming the Tories for Labour’s economic woes. He needs to own his premiership or face being defined by those around him.
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