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 Washington. Downing Street deployed its full weight to block a Conservative motion calling for a referral to the privileges committee, winning the vote by 335 to 223. However, 15 Labour backbenchers rebelled, and up to 53 MPs did not vote, prompting warnings from loyalists that the prime minister is running out of political capital.
One minister said Starmer is in the “last-chance saloon”, while another added: “Keir only has so much credit in the bank with the backbenches now, so he needs to spend it wisely.” Rebel MP Emma Lewell criticised the decision to whip Labour MPs, saying it “has played into the terrible narrative that there is something to hide” and that colleagues will be accused of being “complicit in a cover-up”.
The scandal deepened on Tuesday with revelations that Christian Turner, the UK’s new ambassador to the US, told students in February that Starmer had been “on the ropes” and that his future looked “quite touch and go”. Turner suggested that if Labour performs badly in the May elections, the party might remove Starmer. Separately, Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, admitted 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 MPs that learning the extent of Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein was like a “knife through my soul”, and said Starmer would not have proceeded with the appointment had he known the full truth. The intelligence and security committee has finished reviewing key government documents, meaning the issue is likely to resurface next month.
