Wounded Keir Starmer needs a miracle as Labour infighting inflicts further blow to his credibility
Keir Starmer’s woes are setting Scottish Labour up for a particularly bad result at the Scottish Parliament elections in May
If we are to believe various messages from senior Labour politicians, not only was there no looming coup to oust Keir Starmer, no one from Downing Street had issued a pre-emptive briefing against non-plotter Wes Streeting and, as a result, no one needs to be sacked from the Prime Minister’s office. Nothing to see here.
However, if that’s the case, then why all the fuss? Why did Streeting, the Health Secretary, find it necessary to complain about a "toxic culture" within Starmer’s administration? Why did Starmer feel the need to insist that “any briefing against ministers is completely unacceptable”?
In any group under immense pressure, there are weaker individuals who are unable to take any more and break under the strain. Often in such situations, they start fighting among themselves. For all the attempts by Starmer and his ministers to insist this is not what is happening to them, that’s what it looks like.
Starmer limps on
Since winning last year’s election – a landslide, in terms of MPs, secured with the support of just 33.7 per cent of voters – Starmer and co have made a series of high-profile mistakes, not helped by the antics of left-wing Labour backbenchers.
If a coup was indeed being planned, the conspirators appear to be equally incompetent. When ousting a leader, speed of action and certainty of success are paramount. Instead, the Prime Minister, wounded by this latest blow to his authority, will now limp on at least until the UK Budget in two weeks’ time.
Expected tax rises are likely to cause the stock of Starmer and his Chancellor Rachel Reeves to fall once again, further damaging Scottish Labour’s chances of avoiding what is shaping up to be a disaster at the Scottish Parliament elections in May, when there will also be local elections in England and for the Senedd in Wales.
This could be the moment when Starmer is finally forced to quit but, after nearly two years of unpopular policies and U-turns, it could also be the moment when the image of a weak and ineffective Labour government is embedded in the minds of the public. Starmer – and Labour – need a miracle.
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