Labour management standoff as Streeting set for Starmer talks – and Rayner ‘able to act’
Keir Starmer threw down the gauntlet to potential challengers at a Cabinet meeting, saying a contest had not been triggered and the country ‘expects us to get on with governing’
Keir Starmer threw down the gauntlet to potential challengers at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday(Image: Getty Images)
Labour is locked in a fraught standoff as Keir Starmer defied mounting calls to quit and dared his rivals to act.
Angela Rayner is understood to be prepared to take on Wes Streeting if he pulls the trigger on a leadership contest. The Health Secretary is expected to meet Mr Starmer in No10 on Wednesday for crisis talks but has so far not declared he will run.
In a day of high drama, the Prime Minister threw down the gauntlet to challengers at a Cabinet meeting, saying a contest had not been triggered and the country “expects us to get on with governing”. Mr Starmer’s grip on power was rocked by four ministerial resignations, including Home Office Minister Jess Phillips who delivered a scathing verdict on his leadership.
But despite the turmoil, the tide appeared to be turning, with more than 110 backbenchers and ministerial aides signing up to a letter backing him. The mood in Westminster remains febrile as MPs lock horns over whether the PM should tough it out or set out a timetable to go.
Ms Rayner, who has long been tipped as a successor, appeared to have put her own ambitions on ice as she called for the path to be cleared for Andy Burnham to return to Westminster. But she could step forward if Mr Streeting tried to force a rapid succession before the Greater Manchester Mayor can return to Parliament, the Mirror understands. She has even thought about who could be in her top team.
READ MORE: Wes Streeting ally Jess Phillips’s scathing resignation letter in full
Mr Burnham’s allies have signalled he has his eyes on a Commons seat but the silence from his camp has triggered scepticism. This leaves Ms Rayner as one of the few viable candidates from the soft left flank of the Labour Party to take on Mr Streeting.
A Labour insider said: “He’s [Keir Starmer] has done the sensible thing in trying to flush Wes out. If he doesn’t follow through, it looks like he’s completely bottled it. It’s a moment to put up or shut up.”
Mr Streeting will meet the PM in Downing Street on Wednesday after allies including Alex Davies-Jones, Zubir Ahmed and Ms Phillips, quit their ministerial posts, triggering speculation he could be plotting a move.
But an ally of Rayner said: “We need to ward off Wes.” Ms Rayner is still weighed down by an unresolved HMRC probe after she admitted to underpaying tax on her seaside flat last year.
However the source added: “If that’s what it takes to stop Wes, she will be willing to act.”
At a high-stakes Cabinet meeting, the PM told his top team: “As I said yesterday, I take responsibility for these election results and I take responsibility for delivering the change we promised.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for the government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families. The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered. The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.”
Shortly after the meeting a string of Starmer loyalists including Pat McFadden, Liz Kendall, Steve Reed, and Peter Kyle, came out swinging for the PM. The Work and Pensions Secretary, Mr McFadden, told reporters outside No10: “The Prime Minister is going to continue with his job.”
Mr Streeting is understood to have tried to speak to the PM after the meeting but was knocked back. A Government source said: “Keir said in Cabinet that he won’t discuss the elections or his leadership, and that he will only speak to cabinet ministers about that individually. Then after the meeting he refused to see Cabinet ministers individually.”
Speculation also continued to swirl over the movements of Mr Burnham, who was spotted arriving at London Euston station on Tuesday. Mr Burnham, who would need to be an MP to stand in a contest to replace Mr Starmer, has made no public comment since Labour suffered a mauling in elections across England, Scotland and Wales last week.
But Marie Rimmer, the Labour MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said it was “absolute nonsense” that she had spoken to Mr Burnham about giving up her seat. She said: “I have a great deal of respect for Andy, he has done some incredible work in Manchester, but I am not planning to stand down for him or for anybody else.”
One backbencher told us: “Andy Burnham is not having a great time finding someone to stand down for him. It’s a big thing for someone to decide to do that. He’s not having an easy time.”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy urged Labour MPs not to play into Nigel Farage’s hands by descending into civil war – and said the PM’s rivals didn’t have the support to take him on.
“We must put country before party,” he said. “What I say to colleagues is that we must take a step back. Take a breath. Let’s remember that we have the King’s Speech. We are in government to do a job of work. It’s been 24 hours now and nobody has come forward to put themselves forward in the processes that exist in the party.
“No-one, seems to have the names to stand up against Keir Starmer. Those who are suggesting that he should stand down, they should say, which candidate would be better?
“Let’s get on with the business of running this country and government. That what I’ve been doing today. That’s what the Prime Minister’s been doing. And I urge colleagues to step back and not benefit Farage and Reform.”
One minister told the Mirror: “I think (or hope at least) that everyone has woken up with a massive sense of sadness and shame. Yesterday our MPs let panic set in and we became everything we said we wouldn’t be. It was a complete loss of discipline. Keir is a good man who doesn’t deserve the public shaming he’s had.
“We’re going to tell the public that a Farage government would be chaos full of infighting and big egos. Now we publicly combust like this, it’s so frustrating. We needed to have this conversation but doing it like this makes us look mad.”
The PM is pinning his hopes on Wednesday’s King’s Speech, hoping to win over his doubters as the Government sets out its agenda for the next Parliamentary session.
