Keir Starmer ‘planning to sack Rachel Reeves in shock reshuffle’: PM is willing to sacrifice his Chancellor if local council elections are a bloodbath, Labour insiders claim
Sources in the Labor Party claim Sir Keir Starmer is considering sacking Rachel Reeves in a shock reshuffle.
They say the Prime Minister is prepared to sacrifice his Chancellor for sweeping changes to his senior team planned days after next month’s local elections.
One source described it as ‘one last throw of the dice’ to re-establish Sir Keir’s authority if the results of the May 7 poll are as disastrous as expected.
Downing Street is understood to be considering making Yvette Cooper, currently Foreign Secretary, Chancellor.
But that won’t sit well with Labor’s soft-left MPs, who are agitating for Ed Miliband to get the job.
The news comes amid rumors that the Prime Minister has lost the support of the Cabinet over the Peter Mandelson affair.
While Downing Street hopes the change will remove potential leadership challenges, others think it will only hasten Sir Keir’s demise.
A Westminster source said: ‘Changes always create more enemies than friends. This will definitely not be an exception.’
Sources in the Labor Party claim Sir Keir Starmer is considering sacking the Chancellor if next month’s local elections are as disastrous as expected
Rachel Reeves (pictured) could be replaced as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Yvette Cooper, who is currently the Foreign Secretary.
Last night a Labor MP warned Sir Keir did not have the power to reshape his front bench let alone sack Ms Reeves.
But one adviser said: ‘It is not true that he was too close to Rachel to fire her. Keir had heard all these arguments before, when he was getting rid of Morgan McSweeney. [his former Chief of Staff]. He now thinks that firing people will save his life in the short term.’
A senior Labor source added: ‘This is the last gasp of a dying man. ‘He’ll have to be dragged from number 10 with his nails stuck to the wallpaper.’
No 10 declined to comment.
