A Third Of Labour Voters Think Keir Starmer Should Step Down, Poll Finds

Posted on 26/12/2025 by Boris Clair

One in three Labour voters say Keir Starmer should step down as prime minister, according to a new poll.

A JL Partners survey, commissioned by the Independent, asked Labour voters if they thought the party had a better chance of winning the next general election if they replaced Starmer – 38% of the 1,562 adults questioned said yes.

A further 39% said getting rid of Starmer would not impact the party’s hopes at the next election, while just 13% said Labour would do worse without the prime minister at the helm and 10% did not offer an opinion.

The poll found that Labour voters have even less faith in Starmer than the general public, as only half of the wider electorate think he should step down.

James Johnson of JL Partners told the Independent: “The results underline the degree to which all voters have lost faith in Keir Starmer. What will worry Downing St most is the belief that Labour would do better under a new leader is strongest among Labour supporters themselves.”

The survey asked which Labour figure voters would like to succeed Starmer.

Manchester mayor and former cabinet minister Andy Burnham came out on top with 19% of Labour voters backing him, even though he is not an MP and therefore not eligible to be party leader.

Former deputy PM Angela Rayner came out in second place with 10% of the vote, while deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell was not far behind on 9%.

Health secretary Wes Streeting and Energy secretary Ed Miliband were both on 6% while home secretary Shabana Mahmood was on 4%.

The education secretary Bridget Phillipson was put on 3% and chief secretary to the PM Darren Jones was on 2%.

The poll also ranked all seven of Labour’s prime ministers in history – and Starmer came out in last place.

The survey comes after the Labour campaign group Labour Together secretly conducted a poll on Starmer’s popularity among its members.

The findings are a real blow to the prime minister, just 18 months on from a landslide victory.

Trump Official Mocks Starmer’s Chief Of Staff With Bizarre Christmas Post

Posted on 26/12/2025 by Boris Clair

An official from the Trump administration appeared to mock the prime minister and his chief of staff after banning two Britons from the US.

Imran Ahmed and Clare Melford, two British-based executives who campaign against disinformation, had their American visas revoked on Christmas Eve.

This was seen as a particular blow to the Labour government due to Ahmed’s links to Keir Starmer’s top team.

Ahmed, a former adviser to cabinet minister Hilary Benn, is chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, which was set up in 2017 by Morgan McSweeney, who is now the No.10 chief of staff.

But the US secretary of state Marco Rubio banned Ahmed and Melford for supposedly leading “efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose”.

Then America’s under secretary of state for public diplomacy, Sarah B Rogers, celebrated the move with a slightly less diplomatic move.

She shared a post on X which read, “Hey McSweeney. Merry Christmas”, and featured an edited photo of Rogers with a Christmas hat on.

Rogers added a further festive touch by adding a Christmas tree emoji.

The Trump official said the ban comes as part of a “red line” for the US and the “extraterritorial censorship of Americans”.

Rogers had already taken aim at the UK’s Online Safety Act in interview with GB News at the start of the month, claiming: “To censor Americans in America is a deal breaker.”

When news of the visa ban broke, a UK government spokesperson said: “The UK is fully committed to upholding the right to free speech.

“While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the Internet free from the most harmful content.

“Social media platforms should not be used to disseminate child sex abuse material, incite hatred and violence, or spread fake information and videos for that purpose.”

Unexpected Boost For Starmer As Tory Peer Admits He Would Vote Labour

Posted on 26/12/2025 by Boris Clair

A Conservative peer has offered up a surprise boost for Keir Starmer as he would still vote for Labour despite the government’s difficult time in office.

Lord Rose, the chairman of Asda, told LBC that there is widespread frustration with Labour – but suggested that’s still better than the alternatives.

“We’re in a situation now where I think many people in this country would be disappointed with the government they have elected,” Rose told LBC.

“We’ve now got a situation where I don’t believe the Conservatives can make a recovery in time for the next election.

“So let’s assume it’s the election after that.

“You are now going to find yourself in a very difficult situation in 2027, ’28, ’29, where if Labour don’t start delivering some [economic] growth, the Conservatives haven’t recovered in time, and you’ve got the other option – what are you going to vote for?

“Are you going to vote for Reform or are you going to vote for a second government?”

He said: “I would vote for another Labour government, but I would want some change in the meantime.”

Asked why he would vote for another round of Labour, he said: “It’s a question of degrees of pain, isn’t it?

“If I can’t have a resurgent Conservative Party, and they’ve got a lot of work to do to make themselves re-electable – or I’ve got the alternative, which, frankly, is supping with the devil.”

Asked what Kemi Badenoch has to do to secure the Tory peer’s vote again, he said: “She’s got to be doing more of what she’s begun now, I think, but I just think, it does, in all these things, require time, and I’m not sure time is on their side.”

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

Senior Labour MP Accuses Trump Of ‘Undermining Free Speech’ After Starmer Ally Banned By US

Posted on 24/12/2025 by Boris Clair

A senior Labour MP has hit out at the Donald Trump administration after an ally of Keir Starmer’s top aide was banned from the United States.

Imran Ahmed is one of two British anti-disinformation campaigners whose US visas are being revoked.

Ahmed, who is also a former adviser to cabinet minister Hilary Benn, is chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, which was set up in 2017 by Morgan McSweeney, who is now the No.10 chief of staff.

He has been sanctioned along with Clare Melford, another British-based executive who runs the Global Disinformation Index.

In all, five Europeans have been banned after Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, accused them of leading “efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose”.

In a post on X, he said: “The Trump administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”

But Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP and chair of the Commons technology committee, said: “Banning people because you disagree with what they say undermines the free speech the administration claims to seek.

“We desperately need a wide ranging debate on whether and how social media should be regulated in the interests of the people.

“Imran Ahmed gave evidence to the select committee’s inquiry into social media, algorithms and harmful content, and he was an articulate advocate for greater regulation and accountability.

“Banning him won’t shut down the debate, too many people are being harmed by the spread of digital hate.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “The UK is fully committed to upholding the right to free speech.

“While every country has the right to set its own visa rules, we support the laws and institutions which are working to keep the Internet free from the most harmful content.

“Social media platforms should not be used to disseminate child sex abuse material, incite hatred and violence, or spread fake information and videos for that purpose.”

Yet Another U-Turn As Labour Backs Down Over Farmers’ Inheritance Tax

Posted on 23/12/2025 by Boris Clair

The government has U-turned on its plans to launch an inheritance tax raid on farmers.

After months of intense backlash and protests in Westminster, Labour has increased the threshold – the point at which inhertance tax would apply on large farm estates – from land worth £1 million to those worth £2.5 million when it is introduced in April.

The new plan will also permit spouses to pass on £5 million of assets between them before they have to pay the inheritance tax.

This means the total number of estates impacted will drop from 375 to 185 – and the U-turn could cost around £130 million.

It comes after prime minister Keir Starmer told a Commons committee hearing last week that he had been told of farmers with terminal illnesses who were planning to kill themselves before the new rules came in to avoid the tax.

Environment secretary Emma Reynolds claimed the government’s change of heart came about after listening to those within the agriculture community.

She said: “Farmers are at the heart of our food security and environmental stewardship, and I am determined to work with them to secure a profitable future for British farming.

“We have listened closely to farmers across the country and we are making changes today to protect more ordinary family farms. We are increasing the individual threshold from £1m to £2.5m which means couples with estates of up to 5m will now pay no inheritance tax on their estates.

“It’s only right that larger estates contribute more, while we back the farms and trading businesses that are the backbone of Britain’s rural communities.”

But the new U-turn has caused frustration from those within Labour, too.

One MP told HuffPost UK: “Another hill we’ve been forced to climb only to be marched back down again. This government is like being stuck in a room with ‘The Thick of It’ on repeat.”

A rural Labour MP said the government had been “dragged along to do the bare minimum”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the U-turn as a “big win for the Conservative Party’s campaign against Labour’s Family Farm Tax.”

She added: “This fight isn’t finished. Other family businesses are still affected by Labour’s tax raid, and we will keep pushing until the tax is lifted from them too. But today is an important win, and proof that standing up for what’s fair, even when the odds are against us can make a real difference.”

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice also pounced on the government’s flip-flopping.

He said: “Labour’s tax raid on family farms has already been a disaster for the sector, plunging countless farmers into despair, with heartbreaking reports of some taking their own lives in order to save their farms for future generations.

“This cynical climbdown – whilst better than nothing – does little to address the year of anxiety that farmers have faced in planning to protect their livelihoods. Even with the raised threshold, many family farms will still face crippling bills. With British agriculture hanging by a thread, the government must go further and abolish this callous farms tax.”

The Lib Dems’ rural affairs spokesperson, Tim Farron, said: “It is utterly inexcusable that family farmers have been put through over a year of uncertainty and anguish since the government first announced these changes.

“Liberal Democrats were the first to call out and oppose the unfair family farm tax in last years Budget and we have been proud to stand alongside our farming communities to campaign against it ever since. This concession has been hard won, and I am so grateful to all the farmers who have fought tirelessly to achieve this.

“This is about justice and security – if we undermine British farming then we also undermine our ability to provide us with the food we need to keep us secure in an uncertain world.

“Yet many family farms will still find themselves financially crippled and barely making the minimum wage.

“We demand that the government scraps this unfair tax in full and if they refuse to, Liberal Democrats will submit amendments in the new year to bring it down.”

No, Labour Has Not Said It Might Delay The Next General Election

Posted on 21/12/2025 by Boris Clair

The Labour Party chair sparked a row on Sunday with her response after she was asked on live TV if the government would delay the next general election.

The government is currently facing intense backlash over offering to postpone local in 63 councils next year.

Ministers claim this would help local authorities who are struggling with the administrative effort of setting up a voting system while also implementing Labour’s plans to abolish two-tier councils.

However, that would mean some local authorities will have been in place for up to seven years without facing voters.

Critics claim this delay is politically motivated, and that Labour is hoping Reform will fall in the polls by the time these councils actually go to the ballot box – although the government has rejected such allegations.

Sky presenter Trevor Phillips asked Labour chair Anna Turley on Sunday if Labour intended to postpone the next general election beyond 2029, too.

But doing so would require breaching the law.

Turley immediately said: “No, not at all. We are undertaking the biggest change to local government in 50 years and that takes time.”

But Phillips pushed: “If I were interviewing someone in Latin America or Africa, and they said to me what you’ve just said to me, you’d already be saying, ‘banana republic,’ speechifying about the dangers of authoritarianism.”

He then suggested Labour could use its plans to also reform the House of Lords as a reason to “put off a general election in 2029”.

Turley said: “We’ve still got a huge amount of elections coming up this year in Scotland, in Wales, all of London, we’ve got a huge amount of elections coming up in May…”

Phillips said: “So even if things are difficult and there is reorganisation of Westminster, as I say, you promised to get rid of the House of Lords, there is going to be no delay on general election?”

She said work to get rid of hereditary peers is ongoing, and general elections “always come at the decision of the prime minister”.

The presenter replied: “What I’m not hearing is that this Labour government can’t see any circumstances by which you would choose to do what you’ve done in local authorities and delay a general election, which, I’ve got to say, I’m finding surprising, that you can’t just say, ’no general election will go beyond the five-year term.”

She replied: “Of course a general election will come.

“The House of Lords isn’t elected. So I’m a bit confused as to why House of Lords reform would impact on a general election. There are no plans for a change to the general election.”

Her comments sparked major backlash from political opponents, with ex Tory prime minister Liz Truss calling her remarks “sinister” and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns wrote on X: “Either there is a terrifying reality where they’ve discussed delaying it… or Turley is terrified she won’t take the ‘right line’ and be punished… which is everything the public hates.

“This was simple. There was only one answer: of course we won’t delay the next general election. And they better not.”

But Turley also later told Times Radio this had been a “misunderstanding”.

“He was talking about House of Lords reform, which is not going to affect the general election at all,” she said. “There’s no change to the general election.

“The law is very clear. We will have a general election by 2029. That won’t change. I’m not quite sure where he was going with that, I’m afraid.”

Governments can call snap elections before their five-year term is up but they cannot extend their time in office beyond that, according to law.

The maximum time a parliament can sit is five years from the day on which it first meets.

Keir Starmer Calls Out Donald Trump’s ‘Quiet, Piggy’ Insult

Posted on 18/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Keir Starmer has just claimed he would “call out” someone for using Donald Trump’s “quiet, piggy” insult.

The prime minister was on ITV’s Loose Women to promote the government’s new scheme to halve violence against women and girls by calling out misogyny when panellist Myleene Klass asked Starmer about the US president’s remarks.

She said: “You know someone very close, one of our closest allies shall we say, recently used the language – ‘quiet, quiet, piggy’. Would you allow for someone to speak to your daughter, your wife, your colleagues in the way that Trump spoke to a female journalist?”

The US president caused an international stir in November when he insulted a female reporter after she asked about his name being mentioned in newly released emails sent by the dead convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister replied: “No, I wouldn’t. I absolutely wouldn’t.”

“Would you class it as misogyny, is that something you would be looking at?” Klass asked.

“I would call it out,” he said. “But I would also say, part of the stuff we’re doing with teenagers is talking about behaviours they might not think are problematic but in fact are.”

Klass said: “It’s not just online, they’re learning from the top.”

Starmer has been in a precarious diplomatic situation ever since Trump returned to office at the start of the year.

He has tried to maintain the strong international relationship between the US and the UK while dodging over their ideological differences.

The prime minister has also tried to call out misogyny repeatedly in recent weeks, saying his female cabinet colleagues such as chancellor Rachel Reeves had been victim to it.

Meanwhile, Trump has been accused of ratcheting up his insults towards female reporters in recent weeks, angrily claiming one was “stupid” in November and another is “ugly, inside and out”.

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Plus we’ll also be getting to know the real Keir; the man behind the politics.\n\nSubscribe now for more! http://bit.ly/1VGTPwA \n\nFrom series 29, broadcast on 18/12/2025.\n\nWatch Loose Women on ITVX: http://daytimelink.itv.com/WatchLWYT\n\nLike, follow and subscribe to Loose Women!\nSubscribe now for more! http://bit.ly/1VGTPwA \nWebsite: http://bit.ly/1EDGFp5\nYouTube: http://bit.ly/1C7hxMy\nFacebook: http://on.fb.me/1KXmWdc\nX (Twitter): http://bit.ly/1Bxfxts\n\nCatch Loose Women every weekday from 12.30pm on ITV, STV and the ITVX.\n\nJoin our panellists as they share their lives and talk about everything from friendships to relationships, parenting to politics, mental health and much, much more. 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‘Absolute F*****g Disaster’: Why A Union Leadership Result Is Bad News For Keir Starmer

Posted on 17/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Keir Starmer has been dealt another huge blow after one of his closest trade allies was deposed as leader of a leading trade union.

Christine McAnea was defeated by the left-winger Andrea Egan, who was kicked out of the Labour Party in 2022.

In a major shock, Egan received nearly 60% of the vote and will take over from McAnea next month.

The result will shift the balance of power on Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), making it harder for Starmer and his supporters to control.

A senior Labour source said the result was an “absolute fucking disaster – a massive loss for Keir”.

Another party insider said: “It’s terrible. The biggest trade union in the country has gone to the hard left for the first time ever.

“It will probably mean waves of strikes across the public sector, causing misery to anyone in need of social care services ,for example.”

Labour MP Karl Turner told HuffPost UK said McAnea’s defeat was linked to worsening relations between Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and the Parliamentary Labour Party.

He said: “When you outsource the management of the PLP to unelected office staff you end up losing control of everything else.”

A Labour source said: “The No.10 gang need to stop with all this glorifying in punching down on Labour and trade union members.

“If you don’t tend to your flock no wonder they abandon you.”

Egan, who was expelled for sharing articles on social media from Socialist Appeal, an organisation banned by Labour, has said she will look again at the financial relationship between Unison and the party.

Last year, Unison gave Labour £1.49 million, making it the party’s largest union donor.

Egan said: “This result means ordinary Unison members are at long last taking charge of our union.

“We will put faith in members’ decisions and stand up to any employer, politician or Cabinet minister who acts against our interests.

“Together, we will turn Unison into the remarkable force for change it should be. That journey has begun today.”

The result was welcomed by the Mainstream campaign group, which is closely aligned to Andy Burnham, who has made little secret of his desire to replace Starmer as Labour leader and PM.

“This result shows clearly that vast swathes of Labour’s historic coalition feel the government has fallen out of step with its mainstream,” the group said.

“By working hand in hand with our partners in the trade union movement, the Labour Party has ushered in huge advances for working people before and it can do so again – but only if the party rediscovers its progressive instincts.

“We look forward to working with Andrea and all those who share our commitment to a more open Labour Party with the energy and ideas to transform the country.”

Starmer said: “Congratulations to Andrea Egan on her election as General Secretary of Unison. I look forward to working with her.”

Putin’s Top Diplomat Revives One Of Russia’s Most Toxic Claims – And Turns It Against The UK

Posted on 16/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat has attacked Europe once again as Ukraine’s allies make grinding progress with US-brokered peace talks.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the UK, France, Belgium and the Baltic States of “resurrecting” Nazism in a fresh takedown of the continent.

Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 by falsely claiming the country needed to be “denazified” and “demilitarised”.

Almost four years later, that excuse has returned – but is now being levelled at Ukraine’s allies, all while they are trying to negotiate a peace deal.

Europe has tried to water down Donald Trump’s pro-Kremlin peace plan so it does not end up sacrificing too much of Ukraine’s sovereignty, or rewarding Putin for his aggression.

These efforts have, unsurprisingly, not been welcomed in the Kremlin.

Russia has long criticised Ukraine’s allies for supporting the beleaguered country throughout the war.

Putin has also been dragging his feet in early peace talks, refusing to compromise on any of his maximalist goals.

Speaking to Iranian broadcasters on Monday – hours after European leaders held crunch talks over the Ukraine war – senior Putin aide Lavrov attacked the continent yet again.

Without any evidence, he said: “The saddest and the most hazardous thing is that the theory and practices of Nazism are being resurrected in Europe, primarily in Brussels but also in Berlin, London, Paris, not to mention the Baltic States.”

He also claimed: “Europe is waging a war with us once again with Ukrainians under a Nazi flag, using European money, instructors and all Western intelligence and reconnaissance data while Europe is pumping Ukraine with increasingly more modern weapons.”

Russia started the war by invading Ukraine in a land grab and now controls a fifth of its land.

Western leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that if Russia were permitted to seize Ukrainian land, Putin would come back for territory and eat into Europe.

Lavrov then appeared to wipe out Ukraine’s history altogether.

He said: “Another threat consists of cancelling everything Russian in territories which used to be inhabited by Russians for many centuries and which had a Russian culture and history but happened to become part of Ukraine.”

He also alleged: “Europe is like a failed doctor who struggles to diagnose his patients and opts for randomly prescribing pills or mixtures to ease the symptoms, if only for a brief moment.

“These Europeans doctors have been unwilling to come up with a diagnosis.”

Russia is yet to respond officially to the new proposals from Europe around ending the war – but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested Moscow remained unwilling to compromise.

He said: “We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future. That’s what we want.”

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