Anger is widespread across Labour after the government narrowly avoided defeat over the release of documents linked to Peter Mandelson. The most dangerous moment of Keir Starmer’s premiership came on Wednesday, when mutiny was the talk of the Commons tea room. One 2024 intake MP said: “At about 2pm yesterday, if someone had pulled the trigger, we would have moved. No one dared. I think that says a lot.”
New MPs feel they are being tarnished by sleaze, having believed the Labour government would end that kind of politics. Another new MP expressed “contempt” for leadership contenders who had not taken their chance. “Sometimes in politics, it’s about leadership. We needed leadership,” they said. In the tea room during the debate, it was the first time MPs openly discussed candidates and challenges without caring who heard.
Angela Rayner’s stock is higher after her intervention saved the government from defeat. Wes Streeting has the most MPs willing to back him, but both have issues that prevented them from making a move on Wednesday. Rayner is waiting for the judgment of HMRC over unpaid stamp duty, while Streeting was absent at the critical moment and had a close friendship with Mandelson. Allies of both insist they have no intention of moving against Starmer.
Several MPs went public to suggest a change of leadership was needed, including left-wing MPs Rachael Maskell, John McDonnell and Barry Gardiner, as well as Hull East MP Karl Turner. But many once-loyalist MPs said the prime minister is in place only because of the reluctance of his challengers. One senior MP said: “The biggest thing Keir has going for him right now is that there’s not an obvious successor.”
Starmer was given an unlikely reprieve by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who extended the debate by four hours. By the time the vote came at 7pm, anger had given way to exhaustion. A deal was struck and the vote passed on the nod. MPs credited interventions from Rayner, Meg Hillier, Jess Phillips and Alan Campbell for seeing the risk of defeat early.
