{"id":257328,"date":"2025-11-11T19:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/257328\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T19:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:20:07","slug":"starmer-allies-issue-warning-to-pms-rivals-as-fears-grow-over-leadership-challenge-keir-starmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/257328\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer allies issue warning to PM\u2019s rivals as fears grow over leadership challenge | Keir Starmer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Downing Street has launched an extraordinary operation to protect Keir Starmer<\/a> amid fears among the prime minister\u2019s closest allies that he is vulnerable to a leadership challenge in the wake of the budget.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s most senior political aides warned that any attempt to oust the prime minister over tanking poll ratings would be a \u201creckless\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d move that could destabilise the markets, international relationships and the Labour<\/a> party.<\/p>\n

They insisted that Starmer would fight to retain the leadership in any contest that followed a challenge, either immediately after the budget or, more plausibly, following defeat at the May local elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A bitter row broke out after No 10 sources said they had grown increasingly concerned over speculation among MPs that Wes Streeting<\/a> could be planning an imminent coup against the prime minister \u2013 a move fiercely denied by the health secretary.<\/p>\n

In a sign of how anxious some in No 10 have become over Starmer\u2019s position, senior figures said they had been told that Streeting had 50 frontbenchers willing to stand down if the budget landed badly and the prime minister did not go.<\/p>\n

Cabinet ministers told the Guardian that Streeting was just one of several Labour figures who were \u201con manoeuvres\u201d for the leadership should a vacancy arise \u2013 but that none of them were likely to move against Starmer now.<\/p>\n

They interpreted the Downing Street intervention as a \u201cstop Wes\u201d strategy that was designed to warn off any putative rivals for the leadership, who MPs say include Angela Rayner<\/a>, Shabana Mahmood and even Ed Miliband.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo 10 has gone into full bunker mode, turning on their most loyal cabinet members for absolutely no reason. A circular firing squad won\u2019t help the government out of the hole we\u2019re in,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n

Streeting, Rayner, Mahmood and Miliband with Starmer and the rest of his shadow cabinet at the launch of Labour\u2019s 2024 manifesto. Photograph: Anthony Devlin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But their warnings were also aimed at jittery Labour MPs, who have grown increasingly concerned about breaking manifesto pledges on tax, the potential for wipeout at the May elections and whether Starmer can successfully deliver change \u2013 and a second general election victory.<\/p>\n

Several close allies of the prime minister told the Guardian that any move to try to oust him would be \u201creckless\u201d.<\/p>\n

They said Starmer would fight any subsequent leadership contest to see off rivals for the Labour crown. \u201cKeir will not stand aside at this point, for Wes or anybody else,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea he\u2019d walk away if somebody said the budget hadn\u2019t landed well is nonsense,\u201d a second added. They said he was determined to fight for change for the country, despite the many difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a challenging situation in the PLP [parliamentary Labour party]. We know everything is a bit febrile and everybody is concerned. But the consequences of a leadership challenge would be enormous and people need to remember that,\u201d the first senior ally said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you chuck a leadership challenge in just 18 months into government you\u2019d destabilise the markets, our allies and I don\u2019t think the public would forgive us. The impact would be very serious. MPs need to think about the reality of what a challenge right now would mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Labour prime minister has ever been forced out of Downing Street by their own MPs. \u201cTo do so at this point in the cycle would be the height of irresponsibility. The party would not recover for a generation,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

The second senior No 10 source said: \u201cLots of MPs are concerned about where we are but some are going so far as to think it\u2019s a good idea to destabilise the party ahead of, or in the immediate aftermath of, the budget. That\u2019s really risky.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil we start delivering change, people are not going to start feeling positive about the government \u2026 I don\u2019t see alternative path to a second term other than taking on Farage and delivering on our mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about them feeling we\u2019re behind in the polls and that they need to do something. But it would be a dangerous thing to do \u2013 very destabilising for the party, very reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third Downing Street source added: \u201cKeir doesn\u2019t realise this is existential for him. But it\u2019s astonishing that MPs think that ousting him might be an answer \u2013 the public will just think we\u2019re no different from the last lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabinet ministers said they believed Downing Street was hoping to fire off a warning shot to any Labour politicians with leadership ambitions not to act against the prime minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cWes is obviously on manoeuvres but it\u2019s not about ousting Keir, it\u2019s about putting himself in pole position if a vacancy should come about. He\u2019s not the only one. But we\u2019ve all seen the polling and are worried that we\u2019re about to hand the country to Reform,\u201d one cabinet minister said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt that anybody who replaced Keir could shift the dial in the country, especially if they also needed to make up for the level of chaos they\u2019d create by changing leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

After an abortive attempt at challenging Starmer\u2019s approach<\/a> earlier this autumn, the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, is still believed to have leadership ambitions. Starmer\u2019s former deputy, Rayner, has often been tipped as a successor but may opt to be kingmaker instead.<\/p>\n

An ally of Streeting said: \u201cOf course Wes is the frontrunner but this is a kite-flying exercise from a paranoid No 10 who don\u2019t talk to their own MPs. We know that whoever is seen to be wielding the knife won\u2019t wear the crown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing organised or imminent although everyone expects that something will happen if the May elections are as bad as everyone expects. They are so neurotic because they never leave Downing Street and because they put a load of inexperienced people in the whip\u2019s office which nobody will talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Streeting, who is delivering a speech to NHS Providers on Wednesday, said the suggestion he was plotting was \u201ccategorically untrue\u201d. They added: \u201cWes\u2019s focus has entirely been on cutting waiting lists for the first time in 15 years, recruiting 2,500 more GPs, and rebuilding the NHS that saved his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Streeting has increasingly become a thorn in Starmer\u2019s side since the election, in which he almost lost his seat to a pro-Gaza independent. He is understood to have spoken out in cabinet meetings against the government\u2019s approach to welfare, digital ID and Gaza.<\/p>\n

One of Labour\u2019s most powerful communicators, he has shifted away from the right of the Labour party on key issues, saying publicly that Starmer\u2019s \u201cisland of strangers\u201d speech<\/a>, and attempts to cut winter fuel payments and welfare, were mistakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downing Street has launched an extraordinary operation to protect Keir Starmer amid fears among the prime minister\u2019s closest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-257328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}