Thin majorities and chaotic strategy push Labour MPs toward regime change
For an operation that used to pride itself on its political instinct, Keir Starmer’s No 10 has been repeatedly caught off-guard.There was the plunge in popularity in the immediate aftermath of the winter fuel decision, the decimation of loyalty among Labour MPs that led to the welfare vote catastrophe and the audacity of Andy Burnham’s open campaign for the leadership leading up to Labour conference.Now the operation sees threats everywhere and is determined to put potential rebels in the spotlight and flush out rivals.There has been a dedicated operation in recent weeks to smoke out a potential leadership challenge, with some convinced that one may come as soon as the budget is announced.The plan is to try to show up those who plot potential coups and give MPs pause about where such a dangerous road would lead.
MPs are being briefed about what an upset it would be for financial markets or how it could destroy relations with the US if candidates were to veer to the left in order to appeal to the Labour membership.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is seen as the biggest threat.But there are several potential leadership campaigns taking soundings within the parliamentary Labour party, including Burnham, who has not given up hope of succeeding Starmer, as well as Bridget Phillipson, Shabana Mahmood, and even Angela Rayner.Senior figures in No 10 acknowledge that they seem to constantly veer between different strategies to take on their own unpopularity.After a mutinous summer, Starmer managed to reassure some MPs with his conference speech, which was a passionate denunciation of racism and division fuelled by Reform UK and a defence of diversity that seemed heartfelt.
But there is a widespread frustration that many of the promised changes of approach barely last a week.Strategists brief that Starmer will be more publicly visible, take more questions from the public, travel the country more and spend less time on a plane.Yet it does not materialise.Between party conference and the budget, Starmer will have been out of the country three times.He has not held a press conference since his trip to India – more than a month ago.
Reform have held at least five.His allies are convinced none of their good arguments are getting through about Starmer’s achievements.But the only major intervention by a cabinet minister in recent weeks has been a press conference from Rachel Reeves to pitch-roll for tax rises and a potential manifesto breach.They also brief that he is personally fired up about anti-racism and making a case to reunite progressives, but after one good conference speech, the party still hesitates to respond or attack on the issue.It took almost five days for the public to hear Starmer respond robustly to the Conservative frontbencher Katie Lam on her case for deportations to maintain “cultural cohesion”.
Many of the MPs who were selected as Labour’s “high-quality candidates” were built in Starmer’s own image: ambitious, thoughtful, many with careers outside politics, loyal to the project of a centrist Labour government that prioritises power but cares about equality.Many of them remain loyal to that project, but that project could just as easily have a different leader, because Starmer has never really attempted to cultivate personal loyalty.It has been a real twist to see so many now with an appetite for regime change.They are not – by and large – people who came into politics to practise coups, but have instead been driven to the brink by the party’s woeful standing and their own very thin majorities.As one Labour MP said: “They could try not being paranoid and just try being better.
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Ollie Pope poised to stay at No 3 as England focus on continuity for Ashes
England may stand accused of not taking their Ashes preparations seriously but with only three days against the Lions to hone their players’ cutting edge they have promised to approach the solitary game of their pared‑down warm-up with as much intensity as they can muster.The assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said the focus would be on making the game “as competitive as we can”, as they prepare to effectively unveil their first-choice Ashes XI.While every member of the Ashes squad will be involved in the match, with some turning out for the Lions against their own teammates, the England side is expected to be at full strength. Every player trained in an intensive session on Tuesday – Ben Stokes doing one session in the nets against spin, one against seam, and another bowling – with no fitness issues reported.This means that while the debate about England’s preparation will rumble on, the one over the identity of their first-choice No 3 may soon be settled, with Trescothick strongly hinting that Ollie Pope has seen off the challenge of Jacob Bethell to keep his place, where he has batted in 32 of England’s 35 innings since the start of 2024
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England’s preparations for their clash with the All Blacks on Saturday have been boosted by some words of wisdom from the former US Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu, who visited their Bagshot training base on Tuesday.Raducanu took to the training field with Steve Borthwick’s squad, taking part in lineout practice and kicking drills with Marcus Smith before sharing insights with the captain, Maro Itoje. Borthwick also invited the Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler, to address the squad this week.Eddie Jones was vilified in 2021 when he appeared to criticise the British No 1 women’s tennis player, using the 22-year-old to illustrate the pitfalls of off-field distractions when saying: “There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards.” As revealed by the Guardian, Raducanu then skipped an invitation from the Rugby Football Union to attend a match at Twickenham later that autumn
England play Generation Game against All Blacks with overhaul of traditional order of selection | Robert Kitson
Selecting your best XV to start a big rugby match feels increasingly quaint these days, as redolent of a different era as the Generation Game or Starsky & Hutch. To the point where you half expect to find the home teamsheet to face New Zealand this weekend has D‑N‑A‑L‑G‑N‑E printed at the top of it. Even with the All Blacks in town, the traditional order of selection no longer applies.Instead it is all about the endgame. On this occasion Steve Borthwick has picked six British & Irish Lions on his bench compared with only four in his starting lineup
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Steve Borthwick has called on his side to prepare for “pain and suffering” if they are to end their losing run against the All Blacks, demanding the most selfless England team in history in the showdown on Saturday.Predicting an aerial bombardment from New Zealand, Borthwick has recalled George Ford, insisting his fly‑half general “will be an England coach in the future”, and again loaded his bench with the “Pom Squad”, including six British & Irish Lions among his replacements.Freddie Steward returns at full‑back and Borthwick has stacked his bench with Ellis Genge – who was captain last week –Luke Cowan‑Dickie, Will Stuart, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock and Marcus Smith; all of whom toured Australia with the Lions during the summer.England have not beaten New Zealand since the 2019 World Cup semi-final and lost three narrow encounters against them last year. The All Blacks are unbeaten in five Twickenham games, a run dating back to 2012
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