As Keir Starmer fights for his political life, the contest to replace him has already begun. The prime minister was already under pressure when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for a change of prime minister on Monday. Sarwar’s comments followed the resignations from Downing Street of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff, and Tim Allan, his communications director.
Now the revelation that a website claiming to launch a leadership campaign for Angela Rayner was briefly published last month has added to speculation about when the prime minister could go and who may replace him. As the phoney war has gathered pace in recent weeks, allies of Rayner and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, have been taking aim at each other.
Allies of Streeting have accused Rayner’s friends of trying to distract from her own political difficulties given tax officials are yet to decide whether the former deputy prime minister underpaid stamp duty when purchasing a flat in Hove last year. Streeting insisted on Monday he was not pushing for the resignation of the prime minister, saying: “Keir Starmer doesn’t need to resign … Give Keir a chance.”
But the lack of a vacancy has not stopped allies of the leading candidates touting the credentials of their favoured contenders. Friends of Rayner have told reporters she is “ready” to run should Starmer step down. One senior Labour figure recently told the Guardian: “Angela says she took the scars for Jeremy Corbyn, she took the scars for Keir Starmer, and so the next time she takes the scars it will be for herself.”
Streeting and Rayner are not the only two potential candidates being talked about in Westminster. Some on the soft left of the party are concerned about polls that show Rayner is one of the least popular Labour figures with the public. One person suggested the deputy Labour leader, Lucy Powell, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, or the defence secretary, John Healey, could all be alternative candidates. Those close to Miliband say he does not want to lead the party again, having lost the 2015 election, though the Sun on Sunday quoted one Labour source as saying: “Ed is preparing to run again. He has told people, despite what he says when he is interviewed.”
