No one can say they weren't warned. Last week's elections had been marked out as a time of maximum danger for Keir Starmer if the results were as bad as feared. And so it proved. Only no one had anticipated quite the level of drama that would follow. While the Tories have always been ruthless about removing a leader, Labour MPs seem unable to decide whether their regicide is a tragedy or a comedy.
The action started on Sunday with former minister Catherine West saying she would stand against Starmer. Then she decided to wait and see. Finally, she said she would not stand after all. Cue chaos. Starmer was determined to hang on, saying he deserved more time. Meanwhile, more than 100 of his MPs, including several ministers who resigned their posts, insisted he had to go. His crime? Being “a bit average”.
With Reform favourites to win the next election, the stakes could not be higher. Yet neither of Starmer’s two main challengers—Angela Rayner seemed to have melted away—was prepared to break cover. Andy Burnham was stuck in Manchester without a Westminster seat, and Wes Streeting did not want to appear as the one who wielded the knife, even though everyone knew his intentions. It was an unresolved standoff, and unsustainable.
