Streeting still ready to challenge Starmer despite show of unity, allies say
Allies of Wes Streeting expect him to try to challenge Keir Starmer’s leadership within weeks, despite the health secretary insisting he backs the prime minister and is not intending to move against him, the Guardian has been told,Starmer attempted to regain authority over his party on Tuesday after a tumultuous day in Westminster during which he was denounced by the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and lost his director of communications,The prime minister said on Tuesday he would “never walk away” from his task of changing the UK, and was bolstered further by public displays of support from both Streeting and the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham,But MPs who are close to the health secretary insist he still wants to replace Starmer and is willing to stand against him soon after the Gorton and Denton byelection later this month,One said he would need to act immediately after the May local elections at the latest to pre-empt a potential challenge from his most likely rival Angela Rayner, who is waiting for the outcome of a probe into her property taxes.
“Nothing has changed,” said one.“There was a big performance of unity yesterday but Keir is no safer than he was yesterday.”Another added: “We need to act quickly.There is a big risk that we meander and end up in this tepid decline where we all make ourselves feel better but a Reform government becomes inevitable.“Wes has the numbers, but it will require a steeliness and a determination that most colleagues have not to date shown.
”The person added: “At this point Keir is a zombie,He is in the Theresa May phase of his leadership,”A Streeting spokesperson said, however, that the MPs’ claims were “categorically not true”,Another Labour backbencher said: “The reality is the public does not like or trust Keir Starmer,Once we have the results of the local elections, it will become unavoidably clear that something bigger needs to change.
”The MPs’ comments contrast with the public display of unity shown by cabinet members on Tuesday.Streeting himself told the BBC: “The prime minister has got my full support.He is leading our country through an enormous set of challenges and people have got to recognise the integrity with which he does that.”Speaking at an event in central London, Burnham also gave his backing to the prime minister, saying it was time for everyone to be “facing in the same direction and pulling in the same direction around our ambitions”.He added however, that the government should be more ambitious, notably on housing.
Starmer chaired a lengthy meeting of cabinet on Tuesday morning at which ministers conducted what one source called a “frank and broad” discussion of what had gone wrong with the prime minister’s leadership.One cabinet insider said afterwards: “We think Keir should remain in place but the culture in No 10 has to change completely and the briefings against colleagues need to stop.”After that meeting, Streeting and Starmer held a one-on-one meeting, which one source said was intended to clear the air between the pair of them.Starmer gave a speech at an event in Hertfordshire on Tuesday at which he insisted: “I will never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country, I will never walk away from the people that I’m charged with fighting for, and I will never walk away from the country that I love.”Government officials say they are still trying to work out whether there was any coordination between the health secretary and Sarwar, who prompted the crisis on Monday by calling for the prime minister to resign.
One senior minister said: “There were junior ministers and PPSs [parliamentary private secretaries] ready to go.It went off half cocked.There was a plan, it just didn’t work.“I think the story now is Wes’s misjudgment.The release of the [Peter Mandelson] texts has not relieved people of their doubts and it looks obsessive, even desperate.
”A Downing Street source added: “Wes just did not move, this all feels very James Purnell.”Purnell resigned as Gordon Brown’s work and pensions secretary in 2009 in a move that was expected to prompt a leadership bid by his ally David Miliband, which then never came.Others however, have concluded there was no coordination between Streeting and Sarwar, even if they do not trust the health secretary’s reassurances of support in the future.They point to the fact that Streeting had been planning to release his text messages with Mandelson on Monday, making it a less than ideal time to also mount a coup.Allies of Streeting also pointed out that while Sarwar was speaking, the health secretary was giving an interview to Sky News in which he offered his support to the prime minister.
One said: “Before Anas Sarwar made his statement, Wes told Sky News that Keir needs to be given a chance and shouldn’t resign.I’m afraid the conspiracy theory doesn’t fit the timeline of events.”A minister added: “No 10 seems to have an obsession with Wes.People are saying that he bottled it without any evidence he was going for it.“Wes is a smart political operator who would have known that if you get out and call for the PM to go and don’t have a plan and outriders come in behind you, it would fall flat.
”MPs believe that Starmer’s future now depends on the results of both the Gorton and Denton byelection and the subsequent local elections in May,“Keir is there but he can’t stay for long’” said one,“His name keeps coming up on the doorstep – people hate him,“They didn’t fully trust him before the election and they definitely don’t after [his decision to cut] winter fuel payments,”
Alistair Carns: Labour’s ex-marine who ‘would be a nightmare’ for the Tories
He is the ex-special forces colonel talked of by some in Labour as the dark horse answer to the party’s leadership angst, even if Alistair Carns might not welcome all of the endorsements coming his way.“He’s one of the most capable individuals on the Labour benches and would be an absolute nightmare to face,” said one Conservative MP familiar with the abilities of the veterans minister, who was cast at the weekend in reports as a “decisive man of action”.Carns is a former Royal Marine commando and was later military adviser to three defence secretaries at the Ministry of Defence. He was tipped as a future chief of the defence staff prospect, and there was surprise when the Scot suddenly resigned to run as a Labour candidate, winning the safe seat of Birmingham Selly Oak in 2024.He was appointed minister for the armed forces in September 2025 and has earned praise for quiet stewardship of a portfolio also encompassing issues ranging from homeland defence to support for Ukraine
Ministers warned not to copy Wes Streeting’s release of messages with Peter Mandelson
Ministers have been warned not to publish their messages with Peter Mandelson after Wes Streeting released his private WhatsApp exchanges with the disgraced former ambassador.In a message to officials, the Cabinet Office is understood to have said members of government should not share material that could be covered by a Commons motion forcing the release of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.The Met police are investigating alleged misconduct in a public office following claims that Mandelson passed market sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein when he was business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government in 2009.The Met police issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was “vital due process is followed” so as not to jeopardise its investigation.In an effort to draw a line under his relationship with Mandelson, Streeting published dozens of messages that the pair exchanged between August 2024 and October 2025
UK signed deals with US firms that were clients of Mandelson lobbying company
A lobbying firm co-owned by Peter Mandelson worked for OpenAI before the US tech company signed a wide-ranging agreement with the UK government to explore deploying AI in Britain’s justice, security and education systems.In 2024, the $500bn-valued maker of ChatGPT was a client of Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded and part-owned. Keir Starmer subsequently appointed Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.OpenAI last summer signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government to develop partnerships “to expand public engagement with AI technology”.In September it signed another deal to provide 2,500 ChatGPT licences to UK civil servants, starting in the Ministry of Justice
Who could fill key No 10 vacancies – and win the battle for Starmer’s ear?
With three vacancies opening up at the very top of Keir Starmer’s operation, there is already a battle over who will win the war for his ear – and the direction of the government.The departure of Starmer’s most important political advisers – his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who was focused on the fight against Reform in Labour’s working-class heartlands; and Tim Allan, the director of communication, considered a Blairite – has immediately raised hopes on Labour’s soft left of a shift in their favour.At the same time, Starmer’s decision to get rid of the bureaucratic Chris Wormald as cabinet secretary has opened the door for a more radical replacement to drive through some of the Whitehall reforms and policy changes the prime minister has been calling for.The frontrunner for cabinet secretary is understood to be Antonia Romeo, the dynamic permanent secretary of the Home Office, who has impressed Shabana Mahmood, but other possible names floated include Minouche Shafik, Starmer’s economic adviser, and Louise Casey, the lead non-executive director for the government, who has previously said she would not be suited to the job.The one thing that everyone around Starmer agrees on is that the current void in Downing Street cannot be allowed to continue for long
Starmer says he ‘will never walk away’ as Burnham joins Labour figures backing PM – as it happened
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