Starmer faces perilous 24 hours as Streeting preparing for leadership bid | Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer faces a dangerous 24 hours as Wes Streeting’s allies say this week he is prepared to bid for the leadership if the premiership fails.
Starmer had hoped to salvage his job with a speech on Monday setting out his vision of turning the country around, following a series of disastrous local election results in which the party lost support to Reform UK and the Greens.
But his chances of staying in 10th appeared to be diminishing on Sunday, with nearly 40 Labor MPs calling for him to resign or set an exit date.
An ally of Streeting told the Guardian: “Wes won’t be challenging Keir but he’s preparing in case everything doesn’t go his way.”
Streeting is understood to have conveyed the same message to No 10 last week, but he will not make the first move against the prime minister. Supporters of the health minister believe he has shown fighting spirit after the local Redbridge council was held by Labor.
Labor backer Catherine West has already said she will challenge the prime minister for the leadership on Monday if he does not set a timetable for resignation. He would need 80 supporters among Labor MPs and Streeting’s allies have said they have nothing to do with his plan.
But supporters of Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are trying to persuade West to withdraw his bid, saying there would not be enough time for West to enter parliament.
West’s move is widely seen as benefiting Streeting, whose allies believe he has enough support to enter a race, and soft-left candidates in parliament, including Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband.
Rayner’s supporters say he is not committed to running but is also ready for the possibility of launching a leadership bid.
Some on the left are calling for Ed Miliband to be their candidate as an alternative, believing that Rayner does not have sufficient support in the country and that HMRC’s investigation into Rayner’s tax affairs is not yet concluded.
The cabinet could be decisive for Starmer’s future, with ministers including Shabana Mahmood, Lisa Nandy and Pat McFadden remaining silent on the party’s loss of 1,500 councilors and around 40 council seats.
A Labor cabinet source said: “There is a loyalty to Keir but his ties are now exhausted.” On the idea of a timetable for Starmer to leave, as suggested by some Burnham supporters, the source said: “You can’t say you’ve listened to voters’ messages and then park everything for six months or longer… That would set us back. We don’t have that time to waste.”
But Starmer was defended on Sunday by education secretary Bridget Phillipson, who said it would be wrong for Labor MPs to sack him despite voters giving the party a “real kick” at the ballot box and people feeling “bitter disappointment”.
Phillipson said Labor had been “too pessimistic” and made a mistake in trying to withdraw the winter fuel allowance.
Many of those calling for Starmer to set an “orderly” timetable for his resignation were Burnham supporters, despite the fact that an upcoming contest would be to the benefit of existing MPs.
Former Cabinet Minister Josh Simons is the latest to call on Starmer to set a timetable. Simons said Starmer had to arrange a transition to a new leader because he had “lost the country” and lacked the ability to “rise to this moment”. Don’t write TimesHe said: “To avoid leadership chaos, senior figures from different factions should come together and decide the best path forward.”
Starmer facing a threat to his premiership He gave an interview to the Observer He said he wanted to serve for 2 terms or 10 years. He has also sought to revamp his government by bringing back former prime minister Gordon Brown as financial adviser and former Labor deputy leader Harriet Harman as adviser on women and girls.
