At least 81 Labour MPs have now called for the Prime Minister to leave office. The manner in which they would like him to depart gives some indication of their allegiances – and of whom they would like to replace him.
As we try to decode the language, those advocating an “orderly transition” or a “fair” contest can broadly be read as favourable to Andy Burnham, who would be able to return to parliament and contest a leadership election under such conditions. Those calling for a “swift” or “rapid” process do so in the knowledge that this would be more likely to benefit a challenger from the right of the party, such as Wes Streeting.
It is, of course, worth noting that around 100 Labour MPs have publicly backed the Prime Minister remaining in place, while roughly another 200 have remained silent. But while the vast majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party is not calling for Keir Starmer to go, those who are doing so come from across the various factions and traditions of the Labour Party.
The pressure on the Prime Minister increased significantly late yesterday when a slew of moderates – many of them from the carefully selected 2024 intake – turned on him. When our political editor Ailbhe Rea revealed at 6pm that Wes Streeting’s own Parliamentary Private Secretary, Joe Morris, had joined the calls, it began to look like an orchestrated putsch. As Morning Call was published, Miatta Fahnbulleh, a rising star of the soft left, became the first junior minister to resign and call for Keir Starmer to go in an “orderly transition”.
Many people at the top of the party think this is a very bad idea, including some of Streeting’s natural supporters, echoing the Prime Minister’s warning in his speech yesterday against Labour being seen to repeat the Conservative chaos the party was elected to end.
There is also anger and frustration from the left this morning – both in public statements and in anonymous briefings to journalists – about a stitch-up designed to favour Streeting while Burnham remains outside parliament. These are, broadly, people who wanted Starmer gone but are now having serious second thoughts about the manner in which it may happen.
As those MPs and PPSs from the right of the party began to desert Keir Starmer yesterday, panic set in among left-wingers worried that they had set in train events that would only benefit their factional rivals. I noticed that one leading Tribune figure deleted their original statement calling for him to go from social media and reuploaded it with new wording specifying an “orderly, open and fair leadership contest” – one that allowed enough time for Burnham to stand.
It suggests that even the natural supporters of Angela Rayner do not believe she will ultimately follow through and stand to prevent Streeting from taking the crown. This is the great gamble of any Streeting bid – that Rayner will bottle it and make his path to victory almost inevitable, barring the emergence of a “dark horse”.
Starmer now faces a crunch cabinet meeting this morning where ministers might tell him what they really think. Despite the deep concern of many in the Labour Party, it would now only take a determined minority to plunge the party into a full-blown leadership contest.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[Further reading: It’s happening]
Content from our partners
Related
Join the debate
Subscribe here to comment