Cabinet ministers warn mutinous MPs about trying to oust Keir Starmer
Cabinet ministers have told mutinous Labour MPs that any attempt to oust Keir Starmer after a potentially disastrous set of election results this week would unleash chaos for the party that would not be easily overcome.Several, however, told the Guardian that even with the prime minister’s determination to stay in Downing Street after Thursday’s vote, the mood on the backbenches was febrile and events could yet spiral out of control.They also admitted that – while they would discourage any coup against Starmer now, they did not expect him to lead the party into the next election.“When your personal brand is so poor, it is seldom retrievable,” one said.Labour faces losing more than 1,500 council seats across England, a struggle for second place in Scotland and the prospect of losing Wales after a century of domination, leaving thousands of angry local politicians who see themselves as victims of the government’s unpopularity.
Before they headed to their constituencies last week, MPs were gripped by speculation over Starmer’s future, with Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham – despite not being eligible – seen as likely successors.Some have argued Starmer should set out a timetable for his departure – and have suggested that a group of cabinet ministers might be prepared to tell him that his time was up if the results are as bad as predicted.The Guardian understands, however, that the appetite inside the cabinet for a leadership contest is severely limited, even among those ministers who believe that he will step down before the 2029 general election.“We have a role to play and we’ll certainly not want chaos,” one said.“That’s not in anybody’s interests.
”Another indicated there was no group in the cabinet that was planning to move collectively, and a third said: “I don’t want new leaders, plots, pacts, talk of orderly transitions which shut out the public,Will there be cabinet resignations or a move against Keir? There could be, but I won’t be part of it,”A fourth said that only Starmer would decide when he stood down,“He’s in no mood to be pushed around by colleagues,He’s not daft, he knows we need to improve our polling position.
”Several ministers warned of the danger of unintended consequences,“Those of us who are sane don’t really want a leadership contest or a timetable for Keir’s departure that undermines the party’s position, but we recognise that when the mood is febrile things can kick off,” one said,“We wouldn’t be thanked for picking our own leader three years out from the next election,It’s not that things are perfect, it’s just that it’s premature,”Neither Rayner, the former deputy PM, nor Streeting, the health secretary, are thought likely to move first.
Allies suggest they would only enter a contest if it were triggered by somebody else,Rayner also still has to resolve her tax affairs,Members of Labour’s national executive committee, which blocked Burnham from standing in the Gorton and Denton byelection in February, do not believe there is a route for him back to parliament, despite reports at the weekend,Ed Miliband, the climate secretary, is said by colleagues to be more likely to try to act as kingmaker for Burnham rather than to go for the top job himself,One friend said he was determined to prevent Streeting from becoming leader.
Downing Street has made clear that Starmer would fight any attempt to oust him, with allies saying any putative rivals should think carefully about both the instability any challenge would cause, particularly at a time of conflict and with difficult economic headwinds.They also played down the prospect of a reshuffle, regarded by some as potentially even more destabilising, suggesting Starmer would only undertake one if ministers resigned after the election results and he had to fill the gap.Writing in the Observer at the weekend, Starmer said: “We have a choice.We could sink into the politics of grievance and division.Or we could rise to this moment – together – in a national effort that matches the scale of the threats and turbulence we face.
“When the nation rallied together to deal with Covid, the last government could have channelled that spirit to build a better nation.But instead, they descended into political infighting and let the country slump back to the old status quo.Not this time.”
Willy’s, Margate, Kent: ‘It chortles in the face of small plates’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
This cute and jovial eatery is reason enough to make a break for the coastAs summer looms, and with it the urge to stampede towards the edges of Britain in search of paddling opportunities, I proffer another coastal dining idea: Willy’s in Margate – and, yes, that name does have about it something of the naughty seaside postcard. Tucked away in the back of Margate House hotel on Dalby Square, a few minutes’ walk from the seafront, Willy’s is a blur of frilly red-and-pink seaside adorableness. It’s cool, cute and jovial, with pork scratchings and apple chutney on the menu, as well as black pudding scotch eggs, sticky toffee pudding and Sunday lunches of beef rump and baked cauliflower cheese. This menu is short, intentional and hearty, rather than airy-fairy, and it chortles in the face of small plates.But, for the foodie/sippy crowd, the signifiers are all here: there’s a paper plane and a penicillin on the cocktail menu, throwbacks to New York’s iconic Milk and Honey bar
Helen Goh’s springtime spinach sponge cake with cream cheese icing – recipe | The sweet spot
There is a particular green that belongs to spring: pale and luminous, it’s softer than the dark foliage of winter, and quieter than the glossy abundance of summer herbs. Spinach, the colour of new growth, captures this moment perfectly. Tender and almost impossibly vivid, this cake loses its metallic edge in the heat of the oven, leaving a gentle, vegetal brightness. Baked in a shallow tin and spread with cream cheese icing, when sliced into squares, it produces the perfect ratio of cake to icing and tastes uncommonly good.Prep 10 min Cook 50 min serves 8-10For the cake120g baby leaf spinach, stems removed 120ml milk 200g plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) ¼ tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs, at room temperature180g caster sugar Finely grated zest of 1 lime 120ml solid coconut oil, melted and cooled to tepid1 tsp vanilla extractFor the icing200g cream cheese 100g icing sugar, sifted Finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus 1 tsp juice80ml double creamLine the base and sides of a standard 23cm x 33cm x 5cm baking tin and heat the oven to 185C (165C fan)/360F/gas 4½
Why we care so much about preserving family recipes
“Chicken, leek, flour, a few more ingredients.” That was it: my grandma’s WhatsApp response to me earnestly asking if she’d mind sharing her time-honoured chicken pie recipe. She wasn’t being obtuse – well, not deliberately. She had simply never before committed a dish that was second nature to paper, let alone an iPhone screen.It wasn’t how she’d learned it and it wasn’t how I’d go on to learn it, either
When it comes to wines, it pays to look beyond the fashionable
The sommelier Honey Spencer, of Sune in east London, struck a real chord on Instagram earlier this year: “I’m so fucking sick of expensive wine,” she lamented. There followed an angry plaint about the “unrelenting rise” in the cost of bottles from “artisans making wine properly … and FORGET BURGUNDY”. In a difficult climate, this is “one of the hardest pills to swallow” for the restaurateur.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
How to turn old pitta into spiced chips – recipe | Waste not
Three years ago, I helped my friend, the chef Sam Webb, set up Babette, a street food stall at Newquay Boathouse. Webb and his team make everything from scratch and, wherever possible, using only local Cornish produce, from their hot honey (sourced from the Rescued Bee) to pitta with freshly milled flour from Cornish Golden Grains; he also grows his own produce with fellow restaurateur Matt Comley at Gannel Valley Gardens.As you might expect, saving food waste is at the top of Webb’s agenda, which is how he came to create waste-saving pitta chips to serve with hummus. It’s a recipe I couldn’t resist, not least because they take minutes to cook. What makes Webb’s pitta chips unique is their wonderful seasoning of sumac, za’atar and sea salt just before serving
The perfect birthday cake: tips for the best blow-out
What’s the best birthday cake?Katie, by email“My mum once made a cake with mini rolls made to look like cats with googly eyes and strawberry lace tails,” says Nicola Lamb, author of Sift and the Kitchen Projects newsletter. And that’s the whole point of a birthday cake, right? It should align with the recipient’s favourite thing: “That could even be a lasagne,” Lamb says. “I’m not at all prescriptive about what you stick a candle into.”Of course, some cakes are a safer choice than others. Take the Victoria sponge: “I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with a plush vanilla sponge, jam and cream job,” Lamb says
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