Keir Starmer has survived a major Labour rebellion over a bid to force a parliamentary investigation into his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, but many of his own MPs warned he was running out of political capital. Downing Street deployed its full weight to block a Conservative motion referring the matter to the privileges committee, winning the vote by 335 to 223, a majority of 112. However, 15 Labour backbenchers supported the motion, and up to 53 MPs did not vote, raising concerns about internal dissent.
One rebel, Emma Lewell, criticised the decision to whip Labour MPs, saying it 'played into the terrible narrative that there is something to hide'. A minister warned that Starmer is 'in the last-chance saloon', while another said he only has 'so much credit in the bank with the backbenches'. The rebellion comes ahead of expected poor local election results for Labour next week.
In further damaging disclosures, Christian Turner, the UK's new ambassador to the US, was reported to have said in private remarks that Starmer was 'on the ropes' and that his future looked 'quite touch and go', predicting the party might remove him after the May elections. Starmer's former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, admitted to MPs that Foreign Office officials faced intense pressure to expedite Mandelson's posting, but denied they were asked to 'skip steps' in security vetting.
McSweeney told the foreign affairs select committee that learning the extent of Mandelson's links with Jeffrey Epstein was like a 'knife through my soul', and that Starmer would not have proceeded with the appointment had he known the full truth. The scandal is expected to resurface next month when the intelligence and security committee reviews key government documents.
