Cabinet informed to type ‘praetorian guard’ round struggling Starmer after newest U-turns as deputy says ousting the PM can be ‘insanity’
The Cabinet has been urged to form a ‘praetorian guard’ around struggling Keir Starmer after the latest U-turns chaos, it was claimed today.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is said to have delivered the stark message to colleagues at an ’emotional’ meeting this week.
She also pleaded for ministers to put aside their own ambitions – seemingly a veiled swipe at leadership jockeying by Wes Streeting.
Separately, Labour‘s deputy leader Lucy Powell has warned that it would be ‘madness’ to descend into ‘warfare’ over ousting Sir Keir.
The PM has endured a grim start to 2026, with two major U-turns already racked up and persistently dire polls.
Having spent months extolling the virtues of digital ID cards for curbing illegal immigration, Sir Keir bowed to a backlash this week by confirming they will be entirely voluntary.
Rachel Reeves has also announced that she is drawing up a bailout package for thousands of pubs facing collapse following her Budget hikes to business rates.
Keir Starmer (pictured at a political Cabinet meeting earlier this month) has endured a grim start to 2026, with two major U-turns already racked up and persistently dire polls
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is said to have urged unity from colleagues at an ’emotional’ political Cabinet meeting this week
But there are fears that the climbdowns have only opened the floodgates, with increasingly mutinous Labour MPs pushing on multiple fronts against the ’embarrassing’ and ‘shameful’ PM.
Sir Keir’s weakness is particularly extraordinary given his triumphant parade into Downing Street just 18 months ago, having won one of the biggest Commons majorities in history.
The May local elections are increasingly seen as a critical moment for whether he survives.
Details of the political Cabinet session were leaked to the New Statesman, often regarded as the Labour ‘bible’.
One loyalist told the magazine that Sir Keir ‘summed up’ after a long discussion on the party’s plight.
‘It was very emotional, and forthright. Everyone was slightly taken aback to be honest by the passion and fluency of his remarks and what this is all about and why we’re doing it,’ the source said.
In an interview with Vogue magazine, Ms Powell stressed the need for a new approach.
Ms Alexander pleaded for ministers to put aside their own ambitions – seemingly a veiled swipe at leadership jockeying by Wes Streeting (pictured)
But she said: ‘It would be madness to get into a conversation about changing leaders. We only just won a big mandate and we have a lot to do. We don’t want to descend into warfare.
‘The Tories had three prime ministers in three months and it didn’t change their fortunes.’
Rachel Reeves made an effort to quell rumours about Sir Keir’s future earlier this week, telling ITV’s Peston programme there was ‘no credible alternative’ as PM.
