Keir Starmer is on thin ice. The prime minister survived a bruising Tuesday in the Commons as MPs continued to scrutinise his account of the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Almost all Labour MPs backed Starmer in a key vote on whether he should face an inquiry into whether he misled parliament. But in Westminster there is a growing feeling that the Labour leader is on borrowed time.
Next week’s local and parliamentary elections, which Starmer will face as one of the most unpopular prime ministers since records began, is likely to see public dissatisfaction crystallise. “He’s in last chance saloon,” one minister said after last night’s vote. The loss of confidence in Starmer’s leadership has been a slow burn, with Labour MPs mostly decided they cannot go into the next election with him as their leader.
Britain is facing a £35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession this year as the fallout from the Iran war adds to the pressure on Starmer’s government, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has warned. This crisis compounds the political turmoil stemming from the Mandelson appointment controversy, where Starmer denies any knowledge of failed security vetting.
Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s former chief of staff and a confidant of Mandelson, said he was at fault for recommending him for the position, describing learning the true extent of Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as like “having a knife through my soul”. The leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, each excoriated Starmer over his account, accusing him of a “cover-up”.
Less than two years ago, Starmer swept to a remarkable victory, but now satisfaction with the prime minister is historically low, with around half of the country thinking that he should resign. Labour MPs cannot decide how to get rid of him, when, or who to replace him with, leaving his leadership hanging by a thread.
