Cabinet Minister Sends Warning To Starmer Rivals As Leadership Tensions Rise

Posted on 03/05/2026 by Boris Clair

A senior minister has torn into anyone considering challenging Keir Starmer’s leadership, saying rivals must “give their heads a gentle wobble”.

Labour is expected to take a beating when voters across the UK head to the ballot box for England’s local elections and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

According to widespread reports, senior Labour figures – including health secretary Wes Streeting, former deputy PM Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham – could be looking to topple Starmer if the party receives devastating results next week.

But Transport secretary Heidi Alexander stood by her boss on Sky News, urging challengers not to turn Labour into a “self-indulgent debating society”.

She said: “I think Keir is the best person to lead our country through the period of extreme international volatility that we are experiencing at the moment.

“I don’t think the public would thank us if the Labour Party turned into some sort of self-indulgent debating society when there are pockets of the world that feel like they are going to hell in a hand cart at the moment.”

She pointed to Starmer’s efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the major oil shipping lane which has been impacted by the US’s war in Iran.

“I think asking the prime minister to somehow reapply for his job while all of that is going on and he is entirely focused on the concerns of the British people would be the wrong thing to do,” Alexander said.

“I think those people who think we should have a leadership election now and repeat the mistakes that the Conservative government made in churning through prime ministers probably do need to give their head a gentle wobble at the moment.”

She claimed Starmer is “determined” to take what he has learned from the last two years in office and build a “stronger and fairer country for everyone”.

Asked if Alexander was sending that message to leadership rivals, she said: “This is about what the Labour Party needs to do to put the country first.

“We were elected in 2024 to deliver the change that the country was crying out for after Covid, Brexit, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng and 14 years of Conservative government.”

“Change is going to take time,” she said, adding: “Does that mean we’re going to get a dopamine hit every couple of months? No it doesn’t. But does it mean we are going to put this country on the right path, yes, I do believe that.”

Alexander’s comments are striking considering other ministers started to distance themselves from Starmer over the Peter Mandelson scandal last month.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, questioned the prime minister’s judgment over the controversy.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband also admitted he and former foreign secretary David Lammy had both expressed concerns over Mandelson’s appointment before the ex-Labour peer became the UK’s ambassador to the US.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

‘Downright Atrocious’: American Pollster Roasts Starmer Over His Unpopularity With Voters

Posted on 28/04/2026 by Boris Clair

An American pollster has eviscerated Keir Starmer over his “downright atrocious” popularity ratings with British voters.

CNN’s Harry Enten said the prime minister was even more unpopular than George W Bush or Richard Nixon ever were in the United States.

His comments came as Starmer fights for his political life over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Enten said: “If you think things are bad here in the United States, let’s just go over the pond to the UK, because things are just downright atrocious over there for Keir Starmer.

“Just take a look here – Britons satisfied with Keir Starmer. Overall, 18%. You can’t even drink or smoke any more when you’re 18%. If you’re below that line, that’s not good.

“How about his own party, the voters who voted him in back in 2024. Less than 50% of Labour Party voters back in 2024 actually are satisfied with the job Keir Starmer is doing.

“When less than 50% of your own party voters are satisfied with what is shaking, you know you’re in bad, bad shape.”

Enten said Starmer was even more unpopular that Bush, who had the lowest ever popularity ratings for a US president at 20% when he left office in 2008.

He said: “Well I’ve got news for you; 20% is low, but it’s higher than 18%. Keir Starmer is less popular right now than the least popular American president ever.

“And Richard Nixon of course was coming in at about 24% just before he resigned office. So Keir Starmer is less popular than Richard Nixon was when he was forced out by Watergate.

“Keir Starmer – a very unpopular man. A lot of people want to put a lot of things in their tea when they look at Keir Starmer over in the UK.”

The pollster went on to point out that every other British prime minister who was as unpopular as Starmer either lost the next election or resigned from office.

“He’ll try and climb out of that hole, climb that ladder, but that ladder is going nowhere – he is on a highway to political hell,” Enten said.

He added: “The bottom line is this. Keir Starmer in massive political problems right now. Chances are, based upon history, he will either be forced out by the end of August or the voters will force him out at the end of general election.”

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Keir Starmer is less popular (18% satisfied) in the UK than the least popular US prez ever (Bush at 20%).

Just 41% of 2024 Labour voters are satisfied with the job he’s doing.

All PMs with numbers anywhere near as bad as Starmer’s were forced out or lost in the next election. pic.twitter.com/4CRtmtgAAX

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 27, 2026

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Keir Starmer is less popular (18% satisfied) in the UK than the least popular US prez ever (Bush at 20%).

Just 41% of 2024 Labour voters are satisfied with the job he’s doing.

All PMs with numbers anywhere near as bad as Starmer’s were forced out or lost in the next election. pic.twitter.com/4CRtmtgAAX

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 27, 2026

Labour MP Repeatedly Refuses To Say He Has ‘Confidence’ In Starmer In Awkward Interview

Posted on 23/04/2026 by Boris Clair

A Labour MP repeatedly refused to say he has “confidence” in Keir Starmer during an awkward TV interview.

Dan Carden said there “a lack of ideological vision and strategy at the heart of government” and suggested the prime minister could be forced out of office if the elections on May 7 are as bad for Labour as opinion polls suggest.

Starmer is facing a fresh crisis after it emerged shamed former Labour peer Peter Mandelson was appointed the UK’s ambassador to Washington despite failing to clear security vetting.

The PM reacted by sacking Olly Robbins, the top civil servant in the Foreign Office, for not telling him about the UK Security Vetting assessment.

During an appearance before parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee this week, Robbins claimed there was “constant pressure” from No.10 for Mandelson to be cleared to take up the role.

Carden, who is a member of the committee, told BBC Newsnight it had been “a mistake” to sack Robbins.

Asked by presenter Victoria Derbyshire if he had confidence in the PM, the Liverpool Walton MP said: “He’ll take us into the local elections and I think that will be a moment where the public have been consulted and there will be results.

“All of us as MPs will be looking at what our voters are telling us in those results. But there is definitely a question about the future of the Labour government, the future of Labour Party and what that vision is that we are setting out for the country.”

After Derbyshire asked a second time, Carden said: “Keir Starmer needs to set out where this government is heading and I think it feels right now like we’re going from crisis to crisis and that happens because there is a lack of ideological vision and strategy at the heart of government.

“I wish I wasn’t carrying forward this message, but I think we have to be honest and after the local elections it will be for the [Parliamentary Labour Party] and the leadership to look at where next.”

Asked whether “getting rid” of the PM was the answer, the MP said: “The prime minister has to set out how things are going to be different. We cannot go from crisis to crisis.

“If we have a very bad set of local election results, of course that is the moment where we can reflect on what the public have done at the ballot box, but I think that is the open conversation that will need to be had over these next couple of weeks.”

Carden added: “I want this Labour government to succeed, I would like the prime minister to succeed at doing this, but it’s a real challenge.

“I think decisions like the sacking of Olly Robbins this week just send the wrong signal that this is going in the wrong direction.”

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“Do you have confidence in your PM?”

“He’ll take us into the local elections and that will be a moment where the public have been consulted & there’ll be results.”

Labour MP Dan Carden says “there is definitely a question about the future of the Labour government\".#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/1c8MBzsb6T

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) April 22, 2026

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“Do you have confidence in your PM?”

“He’ll take us into the local elections and that will be a moment where the public have been consulted & there’ll be results.”

Labour MP Dan Carden says “there is definitely a question about the future of the Labour government”.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/1c8MBzsb6T

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) April 22, 2026

Red Alert: Labour At War As Angela Rayner Fires Starting Gun On Race To Replace Starmer

Posted on 20/03/2026 by Boris Clair

As leadership election launches ago, it was pretty inauspicious.

Fewer than a dozen Labour MPs were present as Angela Rayner got to her feet in the basement of a Whitehall pub to make it clear she wants to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister.

Addressing the soft-left campaign group Mainstream’s spring reception, the former deputy PM said the government was “running out of time” to deliver the change Labour promised before the election.

“It needs to be felt, and we have to show that it’s a Labour government that will deliver it,” Rayner declared, before going on to take aim at home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration crackdown.

Plans to double the length of time it takes for migrants – including two million who are already in the UK – to be granted permanent residency are “un-British”, Rayner said.

“That would not just be bad policy, but a breach of trust,” she told those present. “The people already in the system who made a huge investment now fear for their future.

“We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goalposts because moving the goalposts undermines a sense of fair play.”

Sources close to Rayner have also let it be known that the HMRC investigation into her tax affairs – the main impediment to any leadership bid – will be dealt with in time for the UK-wide elections on May 7.

By happy coincidence, that is when Starmer is expected to face moves to unseat him, assuming the results in Scotland, Wales and England are as catastrophic for the party as the opinion polls suggest.

Labour MP Karl Turner told HuffPost UK this week: “If we do badly in Scotland, Wales and up and down regions of England the PM will undoubtedly face a challenge.”

Rayner’s blatant manoeuvring has triggered an angry backlash from many Labour figures, not least those who saw her up close when she was the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“She wasn’t up to running her department, never mind the country,” said one former aide. “She couldn’t even get the bins emptied in Birmingham.”

That is a reference to the long-running strike by refuse workers in England’s second biggest city.

“She used to sit in meetings and ask why the strike was going on, when ending it was literally her job.”

Even if she is cleared by the taxman, the fact that she was forced to resign from government for failing to pay the right amount of stamp duty will continue to haunt her.

A Labour source said: “Making Angie prime minister isn’t going to make things any better for the party because most voters think she doesn’t pay her tax.”

Angela Rayner has spoken out against Shabana Mahmood's immigration reforms. — Angela Rayner has spoken out against Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms.

One senior party insider said they were baffled that Rayner had chosen to criticise Mahmood’s immigration reforms.

“The public support for what Shabana is doing is enormous, it’s probably the most popular thing the government is doing,” he said.

“The party will struggle to get a hearing if it suddenly changes its mind on something with such strong public support. There is absolutely no sign out there that the public think this is something that they have to change.

“This is the territory Labour gets itself into all the time – talking to itself rather than to the country at large.”

Writing in The Guardian, Rayner pointed out that centre-left parties in Canada, Australia and Norway “surged back to win again” in the face of challenges from right-wing populists.

“They showed they would tackle the issues that mattered most to people, and voters decided that a progressive government that puts people first and lowers costs for ordinary people was the better choice,” she wrote.

But one Labour MP said: “Her comparisons to Norway, Australia and Canada undermine her fundamental thesis – that there needs to now be a change because time is of the essence.

“In each country Rayner cites, the governing party bounced back in the final year of the parliamentary term before going on to win.

“This is a view which seeks to falsely cherry pick countries, ignoring the dramatic fall in support for centre left parties across advanced democracies in Europe – whether it be in France, in Germany or in Italy.”

Another backbencher said: “Where’s Angela’s vision? It’s all very well criticising, but there’s no substance.

“What would she do to tackle the energy crisis, the geopolitical headwinds, or young people not in work, education or training? She’s got nothing to say on any of those things.”

Although it may still seem unlikely, there is a small but growing body of opinion within Labour that Starmer may still be leader long after May 7.

“At the moment, he’s the least worst option,” a Labour veteran told HuffPost UK.

“A lot of people doubt whether Rayner’s up to it, and there’s a suspicion that Wes [Streeting] is all style and no substance. Andy Burnham can’t even get a seat so he’s out of the equation.

“Out of them all I’d probably favour Shabana, but the immigration stuff puts me off. Sending girls back to Afghanistan is beyond the pale, in my opinion.”

“There is definitely a world in which Keir is still there at the end of the year,” said a former Labour adviser.

“The right of the party have worked out none of their candidates stand a chance of winning with the members, and the left are getting everything they want from Starmer anyway, so why bother changing it?”

Angela Rayner has fired the starting gun on the race to succeed Starmer. It is yet to be seen whether she will make it to the finishing line.

Children Will Go Hungry Because of UK Foreign Aid Cuts, Warns Labour Peer

Posted on 19/03/2026 by Boris Clair

The foreign secretary’s statement on UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations has been a year in the making.

I have been dreading this day since the decision last year by the prime minister and chancellor to cut ODA spending from 0.5 to 0.3% of gross national income.

Yvette Cooper’s words about UK values and “supporting those in conflict and extreme poverty” are welcome, but the reality of her statement reveals significant, real-life impacts.

Girls will leave schools and children will go hungry. We will damage our international reputation, increase migration and hinder progress towards self-sufficiency through economic development.

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to most of the world’s poorest countries, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Malawi. It has a population of 1.3 billion people – and growing. Its land is degraded by climate change, many countries are ravaged by decades of conflict, and its population feels the impact of a volatile global economy far deeper than wealthy countries such as the UK.

Yet this Labour government has decided to disproportionately cut aid to the part of the world where it makes the biggest difference. And there is no clarity yet in what the cuts will mean for the building blocks of sustainable development, in particular education and skills development.

We know conflict flourishes where the population remains uneducated. And, keeping girls in school is one of the most straightforward ways of supporting a country’s development. All the evidence shows girls who complete secondary education are less at risk of teenage pregnancy, HIV and domestic violence.

Crucially, during their lifetime they will help boost their country’s national productivity and wealth, have fewer children, and raise healthier children who are far more likely to succeed at school.

There is some good news. Britain’s contribution to the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and malaria has been prioritised, and aid to richer countries will be deprioritised. Spending on violence against women and girls, including the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, seems to have been protected.

But we await clarity on conflict prevention and governance programmes. We are currently witnessing how hard power is in danger of destabilising peace and the global economy. While we need strong defences, investment in soft power is how we will build a better world.

I have had my ups and downs with party policy over the years, but I never thought a Labour government would so dramatically slash UK
support for the world’s poorest people.

It is a mistake to cut vital support to people in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere at a time when UK aid is needed more than ever. And it is a matter of deep regret that it is a Labour government that has made this choice.

No one should be proud of cuts that are proportionately larger than Donald Trump’s cuts to US Aid.

A Labour government that – for the first time ever – spends less on the world’s most vulnerable than the Tories will be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Labour Should Pledge To Rejoin European Union At Next General Election, Says Sadiq Khan

Posted on 18/03/2026 by Boris Clair

Labour should include a pledge to rejoin the European Union in the party’s next general election manifesto, Sadiq Khan has declared.

In comments which will be seen as a direct challenge to Keir Starmer, the London mayor said it was time for the party to “be bold” in its offer to voters.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Khan repeated his call for Britain to rejoin the EU customs union and single market in this parliament – a move already ruled out by the prime minister.

But he said Labour should go even further by pledging to take the UK back into the EU if it wins the next election, which is expected in 2029.

Khan said: “I’m quite clear. On the ballot paper of the next general election is a vote for Labour, a vote to rejoin the European Union, and we should be unequivocal about the benefits of the European Union because we’ve now seen the alternative.

“We’ve now seen what happens when you’re outside the European Union: less investment in the UK, less exports to the European Union.”

Asked in 2024 whether he could foresee the UK rejoining the single market or customs union in his lifetime, Starmer said: “No. I don’t think that that is going to happen. I’ve been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union.”

However, in his interview, Khan said it was “inevitable” that the UK would once again become an EU member state now that voters have seen the damage done by Brexit.

He said: “We’ve now seen what happens when you’re outside the European Union: less investment in the UK, less exports to the European Union.

“But let me speak from experience. You know, since 2019, and it breaks my heart, I’ve seen Londoners who are EU nationals leaving London.

“We had in 2019 more than 840,000 EU Londoners working in London. That’s gone down to now 700,000, that means 140,000 Londoners have left London, and the two biggest sectors they’ve left concerned construction and hospitality.

“And these are Romanians, Polish, Italian, French, Irish Londoners, who’ve left their friends. They’ve left their neighbours. As a consequence, we’ve suffered economically, in construction, hospitality, but also we’ve suffered socially and culturally as well.”

Why War In Iran Is The Last Thing Starmer Needs As Voters Prepare To Seal His Fate

Posted on 06/03/2026 by Boris Clair

Towards the end of the third and final part of Channel 4′s ‘The Tony Blair Story’, the former prime minister once again defends his decision to take the UK to war in Iraq.

“I can’t think of another British prime minister who also wouldn’t have wanted to be with America post-9/11,” he says.

Given the events of the past week, it is worth considering whether Blair has now revised that view.

Keir Starmer, the first Labour leader to win a general election since Blair did it for a third time in 2005, decided he did not want to “be with America” when Donald Trump sought permission to use British bases to launch missiles at Iran.

The prime minister doubts the legality of the military action, and is unconvinced that the US president has any plan at all for what comes next.

Starmer only relented when Iran began attacking other countries in the region, putting 300,000 British lives at risk.

And even then, the PM made clear that the US can only use British bases to carry out “defensive” operations targeting weapons storage facilities and missile launch sites.

In comments which could have been specifically chosen to anger Tony Blair, Starmer said: “We all remember the mistakes of Iraq. And we have learned those lessons.

“We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran, and we will not join offensive action now.”

Trump – who Starmer had been relatively successful in wooing since he returned to the White House – has made clear to any journalist who will listen how furious he is at the PM’s approach.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” the president mockingly told reporters in the Oval Office.

A group of men inspects the ruins of a police station struck Monday amid the US–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Starmer may feel reassured by a YouGov poll published on Thursday which showed that just 8% of the country believe the UK should be “actively joining the US and Israel” in bombing Iran.

Just under half – 46% – say Britain should restrict itself to shooting down drones, defending civilian areas and UK military facilities, which is in line with the government’s own approach.

Around a quarter – 26% – say the UK response should be “retaliatory only, attacking military targets that have launched attacks against civilian areas and/or British military targets”.

However, when asked how the PM is handling the crisis, 47% say badly, with just 34% saying well.

The same poll found that 52% of voters think Starmer is handling his relationship with Trump badly, with just 32% supporting his approach.

Predictably, Starmer has been attacked by the Greens for getting involved in the war at all, and by Reform and the Tories for not being more supportive of Trump.

“I think Keir is where the country is at the moment, which is not where the right wing press are”

– Senior member of the cabinet

A senior Labour source told HuffPost UK: “There are three competing choices in front of the British public currently.

“The Greens, who are making the case that our government should sit on our hands and do nothing to protect ourselves, even while 300,000 UK nationals and our allies are under threat.

“Reform and the Tories, who are essentially arguing we should sub-contract our foreign policy to, at best, an ill-defined and escalating war.

“Or this Labour government, who are clear that we’re defending British nationals and interests as part of our collective self defence.”

A minister, not normally one of the PM’s biggest fans, said Starmer’s handling of the war so far had been “measured, responsible and rooted in the national interest”.

By comparison, the minister said, the more gung-ho Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have “lost the plot”.

Another normally-critical Labour MP said: “To be fair to the prime minister, he’s handled it pretty well. But he’s at the mercy of events.”

According to The Spectator, the PM is also at the mercy of his own cabinet.

While he and defence secretary John Healey wanted to let America use British bases at the outset of the war, he was effectively blocked by Rachel Reeves, Yvette Cooper, Shabana Mahmood and, most vociferously, Ed Miliband.

A senior member of the cabinet told HuffPost UK that the unpredictability of war means that the PM is not in control of his own destiny.

“I think Keir is where the country is at the moment, which is not where the right wing press are,” he said.

“Things could change very quickly, of course, if British citizens start getting killed.”

Chris Hopkins, political research director at pollsters Savanta UK, said the PM is unlikely to enjoy any war bounce in his subterranean approval ratings, regardless of Trump’s own unpopularity with the British public.

He said: “Unfortunately for Keir Starmer, the public are far more likely to simply agree with Donald Trump’s assessment of the prime minister than sympathise with him.

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and I think the public are more likely to feel Trump has given an accurate assessment than leap to the Labour leader’s defence.”

Luke Tryl, director of the More in Common think-tank, said the PM’s popularity may marginally improve, but any boost will be short-lived.

“My hunch is he gets a small but not sustained ‘rally round’ bump, which helps him consolidate on the left,” he said. “I’d be most watching his approval with Lib Dems, which I suspect goes up most.”

Starmer admitted on Thursday that the war “could continue for some time”, an unwelcome distraction for a PM whose fate will more than likely be decided by the outcome of crucial elections across the UK in just two months’ time.

The PM’s determination to provide “calm, level-headed leadership in the national interest” will cut little ice with voters who appear determined to punish Labour for their multiple failures since taking office in 2024.

Few are likely to disagree with Trump’s assessment that Starmer is no Churchill.

But it is the prime minister’s failure to emulate the election-winning genius of Tony Blair which will ultimately seal his fate.

Labour MP Resigns From Party After Husband Arrested In China Spy Investigation

Posted on 05/03/2026 by Boris Clair

A Labour MP whose husband was arrested on suspicion of spying for China has resigned from the party.

Joani Reid said she was “voluntarily” suspending herself after discussions with the government chief whip.

Her move comes a day after her husband, lobbyist and former Labour adviser David Taylor, was arrested along with two other men on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Reid, the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, has denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement, she said: “This week has been the worst of my life. The shock of recent days has been difficult for me and my family.

“I want to reiterate something very important: I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been against me. I have done nothing wrong.

“I love my country. To serve the people of East Kilbride and Strathaven as their MP and the Labour Party has been – and continues to be – the privilege of my life.

“I understand that speculation and gossip is fevered at a time like this. I do not want the circumstances that I and my family find ourselves in to be a distraction for this government, of which I am proud and in whom I believe.

“I also do not want my children – who have nothing to answer for and who deserve privacy and compassion – to find themselves subject to intrusion.

“Following discussions with the chief whip, I am voluntarily suspending myself from the whip this evening and will not sit as a Labour MP until internal investigations are concluded.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Joani Reid has agreed to fully co-operate with the Labour Party’s investigation into these matters.”

Analysis: Rachel Reeves Was In Punchy Form – But War In The Middle East Could Ruin Her Economic Plans

Posted on 03/03/2026 by Boris Clair

Rachel Reeves looked as though she was enjoying herself as she took aim at Labour’s political opponents while delivering her Spring Statement.

With no new policies to announce, the chancellor decided to use a decent chunk of her time at the despatch box attacking Reform UK, the Conservatives and the Green Party.

“The Tories left our country, our people and our allies exposed: They had no plan and no intention to fund their pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence,” she said.

“Reform would go one step further by ditching our allies and siding with Russia, while the Green Party wants to take us out of Nato and jeopardise our alliances.

“So let me be clear: It is Labour and only Labour that can provide social justice, national security and fiscal responsibility.”

In another section, she dismissed Reform as “a Tory tribute act” following the defections of the likes of Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman.

“They may have changed the colour of their rosettes, but the British people won’t forget that they are the exact same people that wrecked our public services and wrecked our public finances in the last Tory government,” she said.

“The same people, the same policies and the same disastrous outcomes for working people.”

But behind the political knockabout, the chancellor must know that the fate of the UK economy – and perhaps even the Labour government – depends on the outcome of the latest war in the Middle East.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) may have forecast that inflation will come down, but that was before the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran sparked an energy crisis which has seen gas prices soar in the past 48 hours.

If that ends up feeding through into people’s bills, Labour will pay a huge political price.

The same goes for the OBR’s forecasts on economic growth, as well as government borrowing and national debt.

A prolonged conflict in the Middle East, and the accompanying economic turmoil which would ensue, would blow another huge hole in the already-stretched public finances.

With unemployment set to be higher than expected this year and the tax burden set to hit another post-war high, yet more economic uncertainty is the last thing the chancellor needs.

“This government has the right economic plan for our country,” Reeves insisted.

“A plan that is even more important in a world that in the last few days has become yet more uncertain.

“With the unfolding conflict in Iran and the Middle East, it is incumbent on me and on this government to chart a course through that uncertainty, to secure our economy against shocks and protect families from the turbulence that we see beyond our borders.”

She may have talked a good game, but the chancellor knows that events thousands of miles away have the potential to destroy her economic plans and plunge the government into political crisis they may not recover from.

Why Labour MPs Want Keir Starmer Out Before It Is Too Late: ‘He’s Burying The Party’

Posted on 27/02/2026 by Boris Clair

“It feels like an out of body experience, watching your party dying in slow motion,” the Labour MP told HuffPost UK.

He was speaking shortly after it was confirmed that Labour had come third in the Gorton and Denton by-election, a seat which the party won by nearly 13,500 votes barely 18 months ago.

To make matters worse, the Green Party came first, followed by Reform UK, an outcome polling expert Sir John Curtice described as “the worst possible result for the prime minister”.

“Can’t wait to hear how this is someone else’s fault,” said one MP. “If they try and blame the local operation or MPs, I’ll lose any respect I have for them.

“Polling day was incredibly well-run, but you can’t have a practical response to a crisis of leadership.”

Labour spent the past month insisting that only they could beat Reform, only for voters in the Manchester constituency to deliver an almighty raspberry to the PM.

If most Labour MPs hadn’t already decided that Starmer’s removal from office was a necessary first step for the party’s recovery, they certainly do now.

“He’s burying the Labour Party,” said one backbencher, succinctly.

Another senior figure told HuffPost UK: “Keir needs to be removed. The party has to act.”

Neil Duncan-Jordan told Times Radio: “If Keir Starmer is seen as a block when you go out and knock on doors – if people say to you, they’ll vote Labour, but they won’t vote Labour if he’s the leader – then he’s the block to us winning. And from a purely pragmatic, electoral strategic view, you have to remove that block

“Now, I’m not saying you do that this morning. I’m saying that we need to be serious about winning again. And, if there’s a block to winning again, then we need to look at how we remove that block.”

Fellow left-winger Clive Lewis said Starmer was “an interim prime minister”.

“How long that interim is will be up to the Parliamentary Labour Party,” he said. “He will not be here for very long, he does not deserve to be here much longer.”

Lewis, who said replacing Starmer with Blairite health secretary Wes Streeting would be “more of the same”, added: “We need a radical reset, fundamental change, or we will have a Reform government.

“And I’m afraid my colleagues and the rest of the party need to understand that.”

Even Angela Rayner, who has tended to keep her counsel since resigning as deputy prime minister last year, went public with a plea for Starmer to change course.

“This result must be a wake up call,” she said in a post on X. “It’s time to really listen – and to reflect. Voters want the change that we promised – and they voted for.

“If we want to unrig the system, if we want to make the change we were sent into Government to make, we have to be braver.”

Green Party candidate and winner Hannah Spencer celebrates at an election rally with supporters.

The PM himself appeared deaf to the concerns of his colleagues, insisting that he will not change course and even suggesting that voters had been duped into backing the Greens.

In a letter to his fractious MPs, he said: “The Greens were able to capitalise on an endorsement from George Galloway to win over enough voters to push them over the line.

“Their willingness to welcome Galloway’s divisive, sectarian politics is a sign that the Greens are not the harmless environmentalists they pretend to be.”

“He looks ridiculous and totally disconnected,” said a Labour MP in response.

A Green source said: “Starmer is clearly coming to the end of his premiership, one that he has barely been clinging to. He has learnt nothing from the Greens’ stunning victory and once again he is tone deaf.

“His only answer now is to smear the voters as extremists who wanted the hope and change that he is failing to offer. It is not the election result or voters who are disappointing, it is his Labour government that is beyond disappointing.”

Starmer’s decision to block popular Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing to be Labour’s candidate also came in for criticism, but one party insider defended that decision.

He said: “Does anyone really believe Andy wouldn’t have invented his own foreign policy for the campaign, particularly after a week of knocking doors?

“That would have been the start of a leadership campaign before even being elected, which vindicates Keir’s decision even more.”

Another MP who was regularly on the doors in the constituency insisted the Burnham issue “was not mentioned once” by local voters.

The MP added: “We shouldn’t read much into the result. Lots of voters who would back us in a general election wanted to send a message to the party by voting Green.”

That view was echoed by Chris Hopkins, political research director at pollsters Savanta, who said “we need to be careful not to jump to too many conclusions, and I’d encourage Labour MPs not to overreact to this”.

He added: “Yes, it’s bad, but nothing that played out last night should come as a huge surprise, given the national polling and unpopularity of the government.

“While the temptation to act and publicly criticise Starmer having seen it play out for real at a by-election must be strong, this does need to not be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of Starmer’s leadership of the party.

“Starmer must try to remain steadfast to his cause and maintain party discipline. He’s got to convince his own MPs that what happened last night is not an existential crisis, is not indicative of what could happen in their own seat at the next election and is just a by-election.

“Yes, the result is bad on paper but doesn’t really affect Labour’s parliamentary dominance, and could well be completely forgotten about in a few years time.”

Nevertheless, Hopkins conceded that Starmer will be in an “incredibly weak” position if May’s elections in Scotland, Wales and England are as bad as Labour MPs fear.

“His security is more down to the lack of an obviously challenger, especially while Burnham remains outside parliament, and I guess in that respect Starmer’s decision to block him running is probably remains the right one.

“Losing one by-election but keeping your closest rival on the outside looking in is probably an acceptable outcome.”

Unfortunately for Starmer, very few Labour MPs are as sanguine about the result as Hopkins.

The PM will limp on until May, largely because there is no time to replace him before then.

But a set of results even remotely as cataclysmic as Gorton and Denton will surely bring the curtain down on his ill-starred time in No.10.

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