One trait that is more important than any other if you want to be prime minister is courage. And one member of Keir Starmer’s blind government is finally putting it on display this morning. Streeting, Wes.
Yes, there is a certain amount of Westminster sophistication surrounding the declaration that he is finally climbing above the parapet and putting himself forward to replace Keir Starmer. It was shared through “friends.” It includes the modest fig leaf that he won’t confront the Prime Minister head-on unless things “fall apart.”
However, they are disintegrating. Since Keir Starmer first entered Downing Street, they have essentially been disintegrating. For 1,500 Labour council members, they collapsed last Thursday. And if Starmer is not ousted from office immediately, they will collapse for 70 million Britons.
It’s unclear exactly how Sir Keir will be hauled out of No. 10. However, Cabinet members think it will happen in the next 48 hours.
The once-unobtrusive former Foreign Office minister Catherine West shocked the Labour Party on Saturday by declaring that if ministers did not take action against Starmer by Monday, she would personally question him.
At first, this was perceived as a freelancing endeavour unrelated to any of the main competitors. However, she has gained support from her parliamentary colleagues due to her unwavering and fervent demand that Starmer resign.
Whether West will receive the 81 nominations required to force a race is now up in the air. However, it is now assumed within the Cabinet that there will be a strong push within the parliamentary party to compel the Prime Minister to either announce his immediate resignation or set a timeline for a transition around the Labour Party conference after he delivers his most recent “reset speech” tomorrow.
One Minister stated, “We must give him the chance to speak tomorrow, but after that, people will move.” By this time on Tuesday, I anticipate that the number will be significantly higher than what is required to start a contest.
One member of Keir Starmer’s blind government is at last showing bravery this morning. Dan Hodges writes about Wes Streeting.
Wes Streeting’s supporters may covertly help West’s unorthodox insurrection, according to some ministers. However, his supporters anticipate that the identities will surface through a different channel, most likely letters from MPs expressing their lack of trust in Starmer.
The Prime Minister will then be presented with these names and given the option to either resign or be hauled out of Downing Street.
According to a minister I spoke with, Sir Keir will accept his fate. They informed me, “I believe he’ll go by the end of this week, without the need for a contest.”
It was evident yesterday that Streeting’s audacity had taken his rivals in the party by surprise. One left-leaning MP said, “Oh s***!” when I told him about a newspaper article that the Health Secretary was organising. However, they will attempt to rally throughout the next twenty-four hours.
Andy Burnham is the largest possible loser, aside from Starmer. Later in the week, the mayor of Manchester intended to declare that he had secured a seat that would allow him to make a triumphant return to Parliament.
However, that strategy has now fallen apart, raising the possibility that he may be stranded in his fortress in the North West while events take place 200 miles to the south.
Now that Burnham has left the field, the Labour Left is rushing to select a candidate of their own. In a 1,000-word statement released yesterday, Angela Rayner attacked Thames Water in a somewhat strange way, denounced Keir Starmer for his “cronyism,” and chastised him for preventing Burnham from running in the Gorton by-election. However, she deliberately refrained from demanding that Starmer resign. or declaring her own candidature.
According to a minister I spoke with, Sir Keir Starmer will accept his fate. “I believe he will leave by the end of this week, so there won’t be a contest.”
Rayner’s allies told me yesterday that she was just waiting to see if Streeting made a formal bid before entering the contest to prevent a new Blairite usurper from taking over Labour.
However, I was informed by another close friend that she was losing her stomach over the battle. “The tax issue [unpaid stamp duty on her flat in Hove] frequently comes up at the door.” Concerns have been raised concerning her tight group. She is aware of it. She seems to have outlived her moment.
There is one more possible high-profile opponent. One minister claims that Ed Miliband, the Environment Secretary, has been soliciting support from his fellow lawmakers for his own dramatic comeback to the leadership. The minister disclosed, “Ed has been canvassing a lot of people.” He has expressed to pals that he would want Andy to stand. However, he is ready to take the initiative himself if he is unable to.
Just three days have passed since Keir Starmer responded to his party’s defeat in the local election by the electorate with a tone deaf—some would even say brain dead—statement that he was headed nowhere. However, his already vulnerable political standing has collapsed since that misguided show of resistance.
Following his brief interview on Friday morning, he made the puzzling revelation on Saturday that he had chosen Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown to assist him in implementing his “agenda for change.”
His dejected lawmakers were horrified to learn that he planned to serve two full terms in an interview with a Sunday newspaper that followed.
“Everyone has been wondering who would finish off Keir Starmer,” noted one Labour grandee. In actuality, he has exhausted himself. “I know you say you don’t like me,” he said to the British people in response to the local elections. Let’s wait and see. In the end, I’ll win your affection.
This analysis was concurred with by a Cabinet minister. “With Morgan [McSweeney] gone, there is no one with the power to direct Keir’s actions or mobilise the Cabinet, let alone the staff, behind a cogent plan to save him.”
Wes Streeting has stolen a march on his peers in the competition to succeed Keir Starmer. Fortune also seems to favour the courageous.
