PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer will fight for his political life today — after being given a stay of execution by Angela Rayner.
His premiership was in freefall yesterday after a blistering attack by his former deputy and more backbench demands for him to resign.
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Sir Keir Starmer is set to fight for his political life with his premiership in freefall Credit: PA
The PM was given a stay of execution by Angela Rayner Credit: Carl Court
Ms Rayner failed to seize on Labour’s local elections bloodbath by ruling out an immediate leadership challenge.
But she backed fellow “soft Left” candidate Andy Burnham returning to Parliament as the likelihood of a contest to replace Sir Keir as Prime Minister increased.
Allies of Sir Keir last night said he has not changed his position on blocking Mr Burnham from being able to return — after doing so earlier in the year in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
The Jattvibe understands that Cabinet Ministers are starting to lose faith in his leadership — and several believe he will soon face a coup attempt.
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Sir Keir will today scramble to appease left-wing rebels with a make-or-break speech promising to water down Brexit and embrace “Labour values”.
It came after Ms Rayner, the former Deputy PM, launched a devastating takedown of the direction of the Government after Labour’s election bloodbath last week.
Ms Rayner admitted “what we are doing isn’t working” and warned: “This may be our last chance.”
But despite speculation she was preparing to move against Sir Keir, allies insisted she has made clear throughout that she will not challenge him herself.
The former Deputy PM failed to seize on Labour’s local elections bloodbath Credit: AFP
Rayner publicly backed Andy Burnham’s return to Parliament Credit: Getty
Instead, she used her extraordinary intervention to publicly back Mr Burnham’s return to Parliament after declaring blocking the Greater Manchester Mayor from standing was a “mistake”.
Her remarks came as it was revealed the Cabinet is starting to turn privately against Sir Keir.
One senior government source said: “Most of the Cabinet are now of the view it won’t last much longer for Keir. They are in a totally different place to when Anas [Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader] went over the top.
“There is still some residual loyalty to Keir because of what he’s done for the party.
“But if he doesn’t get this speech right, and persuade people he can turn it around, then things could move fast.”
Labour lost almost 1,500 council seats and crashed to third place in Wales behind Reform UK and Plaid Cymru last week.
More than 40 Labour MPs are now understood to have either publicly or privately called for his exit.
Others fear Reform’s rapid rise could wipe them out entirely in many working-class seats if the Government fails to reconnect with voters before the next election.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is being discussed by Labour moderates as a possible successor Credit: PA
Former minister Catherine West openly urged Cabinet ministers to remove the PM Credit: Alamy
Former loyalist and ex-minister Josh Simons declared in The Times Sir Keir had “lost the country” and urged him to oversee an “orderly transition” to a new leader.
Sir Keir in today’s speech will say “incremental changes won’t cut it”. He will go on to state: “People need hope. We will face up to the big challenges and we will make the big arguments.
“The Labour case that only Labour values and Labour policies can ensure our country not only weathers these storms but emerges stronger and fairer.”
Meanwhile, Ms Rayner’s words amounted to a demolition of the Government’s current direction.
She blasted the “Peter Mandelson scandal”, attacked the decision to slash winter fuel payments and warned Labour was becoming “a party of the well-off, not working people”.
The Mandelson scandal is set to reignite as early as next week when thousands of texts between the Labour peer and senior staff are released.
She also pushed Sir Keir towards a more left-wing economic agenda — despite the PM insisting Labour should not “tack Right or Left”.
Ms Rayner is still the subject of an ongoing inquiry by HMRC into £40,000 of stamp duty she failed to pay, having resigned as Deputy PM last September.
Sir Keir is expected to say in today’s speech that ‘incremental changes won’t cut it’ Credit: Getty
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Catherine West had the situation ‘completely wrong’ Credit: Alamy
Calling for more workers’ rights, public ownership and wealth redistribution, she warned voters felt “hopeless” and said ministers had failed to move quickly enough on the cost of living crisis.
She said: “The Labour Party must now live up to our name: we must be the party of working people.”
She pointedly warned: “The Prime Minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”
Last month, allies of Mr Burnham had urged Ms Rayner to strike a future leadership pact that could eventually see the pair share power.
Meanwhile, former minister Catherine West has openly urged Cabinet ministers to remove Sir Keir before Reform wipes Labour out.
The MP demanded ministers agree on a replacement for the PM to avoid a damaging leadership election tearing the party apart.
She told Jattvibe: “If that can happen, then we can have a very quiet transition without upsetting anybody, without having to go to all of the members.”
Ms West said she would listen carefully to Sir Keir’s speech before deciding whether to begin gathering the 81 MP nominations needed to trigger a formal leadership contest.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting is also being discussed by Labour moderates as a possible successor.
His supporters insist he will not directly challenge Sir Keir — but is preparing for the possibility of events spiralling into a leadership contest “if it all falls apart”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham also urged the PM to set out a timetable for his exit.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Ms West had “got this completely wrong” and warned voters did not want Labour MPs “arguing amongst ourselves”.
But she also said she felt “absolutely sick to the bottom of my stomach” after the election results came in.
