How Starmer hopes Gordon Brown’s big clunking fist can save him from a Labour leadership coup

WWith a growing number of Labor MPs publicly saying, and even saying so privately, that he must set a timetable for leaving the leadership, it is clear that Sir Keir Starmer will need to do something to turn his fortunes around if he hopes to remain in Downing Street.

Heading into the weekend, the question arose as to what Labor could do after its historically abysmal election results.

His answer: to act like an aging rocker and revive two of his party’s biggest hits from years ago to appeal to core members tempted by the political tunes of other parties, particularly Zack Polanski’s Greens.

And so cameras duly captured first former deputy leader Baroness Harriet Harman and then former prime minister Gordon Brown walking down Downing Street to give Sir Keir the job.

Both of them were given tasks that would solve the important problems of this prime minister.

But perhaps more importantly, what better way to defend your prime ministership against rivals than by hiring the man Sir Tony Blair once famously described as “the big thumping fist”. Mr Brown famously had to face his own imaginary leadership challenges from former foreign secretary David Miliband.

Mr Brown was given the role of special representative of global finance. A man seen as a truly great chancellor will help begin to deal with the complete failure of Sir Keir’s economic policy under current chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Ms. Reeves was there to greet the new employee, but you can’t help but wonder if this will lead to her being pushed aside.

The promise that “economic growth is the number one mission” is a distant memory that has yet to be realized. But Mr Brown’s arrival also carries echoes of Rishi Sunak’s appointment of David Cameron as foreign secretary as he has to shore up his failed government in 2023. Sir Keir brings in a man who criticized Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador and is respected and revered in the Labor Party despite losing the 2010 general election.

The other former Prime Minister Sir Keir might want is Sir Tony Blair, who won three elections, but that could inflame the left of the party.

Meanwhile, Baroness Harman, the former mother of the House of Commons, is another respected figure from Labour’s recent past. Her role as the new adviser on women and girls deals with another issue the prime minister is experiencing. Sir Keir has struggled to convince people he is serious about violence against women and girls (VAWG) since his failure to resolve the controversy over Asian grooming rings targeting young white girls and since Mandelson’s appointment showed he cared little about pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. This is somewhat ironic, given that the fight against VAWG has been a matter in which he has taken a personal interest since becoming director of public prosecutions.

Sir Keir’s inability to do policy well and communicate successfully has left him exposed on this issue, but bringing up big monsters from the past also reveals another weakness of this prime minister. This underlines concerns that he and current cabinet ministers are unfit for the job. Moreover, this seems like an alternative strategy to his hopes for a proper reset with a big change.

The predicted change could still happen after his speech on Monday, but most Labor MPs think Sir Keir is now too weak to make any serious change, such as replacing his chancellor or sacking ambitious health secretary Wes Streeting.

But he may need to find a way to bring him back to stave off a challenge from former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. But for now, he hopes that the victory reflected by the party’s two most respected leaders will be enough to prevent a move against him by his own MPs.