Keir Starmer faces make-or-break showdown with MPs after high aide quits
Keir Starmer is expected to face Labour MPs on Monday evening as he fights for his political future as the Peter Mandelson crisis engulfs the heart of government
Keir Starmer is expected to face Labour MPs on Monday evening(Image: Getty Images)
Keir Starmer faces a make-or-break showdown with restless Labour MPs as he fights to stay in power.
On a crucial day for the PM, he will attempt to face down growing unrest following the dramatic departure of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney. The top aide said quitting was the honourable thing to do after advising Mr Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
But some of the PM’s fiercest critics are calling for Mr Starmer to follow him out the door as the crisis engulfs the centre of government. The Prime Minister is expected to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), warning MPs that a leadership contest would be disastrous.
READ MORE: Minister calls on Mandelson to hand back ‘golden goodbye’ payment or give it to charityREAD MORE: Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quits after Mandelson scandal
He will appeal for calm and point to the positives Labour has achieved since coming to government. The Prime Minister’s supporters have urged him to double down and ignore the naysayers, but calls for him to quit are growing in spite of Mr McSweeney taking the fall.
Asked if Mr Starmer will still be in charge a year from now, skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith told Sky News on Monday morning: “I very much hope so. I think the last thing that the country or the party could do with at the moment is a lengthy leadership campaign.” And she continued: “I think it would be better, given that we were elected to change the country, if people focused on doing that rather than thinking about who the future leader may or may not be at some point all or another.”
And backbencher Natalie Fleet told Sky: “I’ve been genuinely shocked by the support that he has. So there have been people that have not always voted with the Government, they’ve been messaging me over the weekend saying they feel very strongly that he should stay.” And she urged the Prime Minister to “double down”.
But Mr Starmer will also have to face MPs who are calling for him to throw in the towel as anger over the Mandelson scandal mounts. Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne posted on X: “McSweeney has overseen the erosion of internal democracy and the normalisation of a deeply damaging factionalism that members and MPs are now living with – and which I experienced first hand in 2022.
“But this will not stop with a single resignation. A true change in political direction must now come from – and be led from – the very top. The PM must now reflect honestly on his own position and ask whether, for the good of the country and the Labour Party, he should follow McSweeney’s lead.”
And Brian Leishman, who represents Alloa and Grangemouth, wrote on X: “McSweeney was at the heart of the political mistakes made since the general election. He helped create this factionalism in the Labour Party. The country & party will be better off after today.
“The PM must consider following McSweeney’s lead one last time and doing the same.” Union chiefs have heaped further pressure on the Labour leader, with Fire Brigades Union general secretary Steve Wright calling on Labour MPs to topple him. And Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Labour-affiliated Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, told The Telegraph: “There’s no case for waiting until May, given the scale of defeat we are facing at these critical elections. It’s time to elect a new leader.”
In the coming days thousands of emails, messages and documents are expected to be released on Mandelson’s appointment. A furious Mr Starmer has accused the former peer of betraying Britain and lying in order to get the job.
He says the raft of documents will vindicate him and prove that Mandelson was untruthful during the selection process. Labour MP John Slinger backed the Prime Minister and rejected calls for him to follow Mr McSweeney out of the door. He said: “I have been speaking publicly about how Labour should rally behind the Prime Minister, how we don’t ditch a leader just because the going gets tough, and how it’s in the national interest for Keir Starmer to stay as Prime Minister.
“Since I’ve done that, I have been approached in the street by constituents telling me they heard me on the radio and totally agree. I have had CEOs of companies message me to say they agree.
“And I have had people from all around the country, whether Labour or not, saying they think the last thing the country needs is leadership speculations and that we should support the Prime Minister.”
