{"id":102936,"date":"2025-11-12T02:08:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T02:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102936"},"modified":"2025-11-12T02:08:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T02:08:00","slug":"british-prime-minister-starmer-will-fight-attempts-to-replace-him-allies-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102936","title":{"rendered":"British prime minister Starmer will fight attempts to replace him, allies say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 39 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Allies of the British prime minister are making it clear he would fight any challenge to his leadership from Labour MPs.<\/p>\n

There are fears from those loyal to Sir Keir Starmer that his job might be under immediate threat, perhaps as soon as shortly after the Budget in a fortnight\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Critics say it is evidence that Downing Street is \u201cin full bunker mode\u201d which \u201cwon\u2019t help the government out of the hole we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends of Sir Keir are deeply worried about what they see as plotting going on to try to replace him and are seeking to make clear what they see as the grave risks of a leadership challenge.<\/p>\n

Those names being discussed by Labour MPs as potential candidates to displace Sir Keir include some of his closest cabinet allies, especially Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.<\/p>\n

Some also speculate about the ambitions of Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, and backbenchers including the former transport secretary Louise Haigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will fight this,\u201d one minister said, before making reference to a key by-election in 2021 which Labour lost to the Conservatives, prompting Sir Keir to consider resigning as Labour\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a Hartlepool moment,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is one of only two people alive who have won a general election for Labour. It\u2019d be madness to run against him after 17 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

For months now, plenty in the Labour Party have acknowledged that the government faces a likely crunch point after devolved elections in Scotland and Wales and local elections in many parts of England next May.<\/p>\n

Labour is widely expected to do badly in those elections, but there are growing concerns from some in the party that it can\u2019t wait until then to contemplate a change of leader.<\/p>\n

Downing Street is aware of the potential imminence of such a threat to them.<\/p>\n

One senior Labour MP told us: \u201cIt\u2019s all very well to say wait for the locals, but that\u2019s my activist base I\u2019m sending into the gunfire. I can\u2019t lose all my councillors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Labour source said: \u201cThe list of reasons for people to move after the Budget are growing by the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Wes is brave and moves he may well be rewarded by being prime minister by Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambition of Streeting is seen with particular suspicion from some loyal to the prime minister.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Streeting told the BBC \u201cthese claims are categorically untrue\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWes\u2019s focus has entirely been on cutting waiting lists for the first time in 15 years, recruiting 2,500 more GPs, and rebuilding the NHS that saved his life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The health secretary is due to do a round of interviews on Wednesday morning which were due to be focused on his plans for shaking up the NHS in England.<\/p>\n

A government source said Downing Street \u201chas gone into full bunker mode, turning on their most loyal cabinet members for absolutely no reason\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately there is a pattern of Keir\u2019s team briefing against his own people \u2013 they did it to Angela, Lisa, Lucy, now it\u2019s Wes\u2019s turn,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

\u201cA circular firing squad won\u2019t help the government out of the hole we\u2019re in,\u201d a government source said \u2013 referring to the former and current deputy leaders, Angela Rayner and Lucy Powell respectively, and the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.<\/p>\n

The prime minister\u2019s supporters are telling Labour MPs they should be careful what they wish for.<\/p>\n

They argue a leadership contest would plunge the party into the chaos associated with the final years of the Conservative Party\u2019s stint in office which came to an end last year, and install a leader who does not have their own mandate from the country.<\/p>\n

They are trying to convince their colleagues that a contest could destabilise the international markets too, and would jeopardise the good relationship the prime minister has established with President Trump.<\/p>\n

But others, including some ministers, fret about what they perceive to be the desperate position the government is in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terrible. He [Starmer] is hated out there. It is worse than it got under Corbyn. I don\u2019t see how this is sustainable until May,\u201d one minister said.<\/p>\n

Opinion\u00a0polls suggest\u00a0Sir Keir is deeply unpopular, perhaps even the\u00a0most unpopular British prime minister\u00a0in the history of modern opinion polling.<\/p>\n

Polls also suggest the Labour Party has commanded the support of\u00a0no more than a fifth of the electorate\u00a0in recent months.<\/p>\n

A cabinet minister who is supportive of the prime minister sums up the mood among their colleagues as they see it: \u201cThere are those who see it as a choice between this Labour government and perfection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe closer they can nudge us towards the policies they see as perfect, the happier they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the choice isn\u2019t between us and perfection, it\u2019s between us and Reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rise of Reform UK has concentrated minds in Downing Street in recent months.<\/p>\n

The prime minister sees Labour\u2019s battle with Reform leader Nigel Farage as generation-defining \u2013 and the prospect of losing to Reform at a general election as vastly worse than Labour losses to the Conservatives.<\/p>\n

He believes he has the energy and wherewithal to take on and defeat Farage.<\/p>\n

But a growing number of his colleagues are not convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not like the Tories. We\u2019re not going to change leader more than once in a parliament,\u201d one Labour MP first elected last year told us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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