There is general acceptance among most in the Labour Party, particularly in the Parliamentary Party, that Keir Starmer is not suited to the role of Prime Minister.
Yes, he is a nice guy. Yes, he has restored the UKs reputation on the international stage. And, of course, yes, he delivered Labour a thumping majority after 14 years in opposition just under two years ago,
However, Starmer and his government have failed dismally to wield that power in anywhere near as effective a way as was expected, the political chaos he promised he would rid the country of has continued, and, most critically of all, the PM has shown himself to be bereft of political instinct.
I have spent a couple of days in London this week, and my reflections, as I had back North, are:
- Starmer is likely to stay in post for the next six-months for the same reason he has survived the last six. Labour cannot agree on an alternative.
- The media frenzy around the PMs future is really irritating Labour MPs – and importantly Labour members, who will be talking to their MPs – and sympathy for Starmer, and anger with the press, is growing.
- There is genuine concern among many that, unlike the Tories, Labour would find it hard to sack the PM without calling a General Election, if not within weeks, then certainly within months, of making a change.
- The two ‘retail’ friendly Labour options have challenges of their own. Wes Streeting is being warned by the Left of the party that they would not see his election as legitimate, if it came before the return to Westminster of the ‘King of the North’. Andy Burnham, though, has to find a ’safe’ Labour seat – and after last week’s local election meltdown, is there such a thing at the moment?
- Of the other runners and riders, Angela Rayner would scare the markets to death and, despite what some in Labour may want to believe, that matters – a lot. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband- seen by those who have adopted a ‘fruitcake and fantasy’ approach to politics- as a possible ‘caretaker’ PM, whilst Andy sorts himself out, is someone who scares the country to death.
So, for now, Starmer survives. But with over 80 of his parliamentary colleagues withdrawing support for his leadership, a Home Secretary and a Health Minister still in situ but clearly unhappy with their boss, and the probability that his party’s poll numbers- and his own – will plummet even further – it does feel as though it is when, rather than if, the PM goes.
