When The Mail on Sunday revealed a fortnight ago that Labour MPs were plotting to oust Sir Keir Starmer, the four leading contenders to replace him were dubbed the ‘drab four’ by columnist Richard Littlejohn.
After a week which has veered from farce to tragedy – for Britain’s economy and its standing in the world – the field of ‘stalking horses’ behind the Prime Minister has now widened to Grand National levels.
A disastrous attempt to brief against Health Secretary Wes Streeting has helped him to pull ahead of the rest of the ‘drab four’ – Angela Rayner, Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband – as scheming by Labour MPs accelerates amid mounting panic about Rachel Reeves’ ‘omnishambles’ Budget preparations.
The chaos, which included a humiliating U-turn by Ms Reeves over plans to raise income tax rates, means that a challenge to Sir Keir has moved closer than ever.
Growing numbers of Labour MPs are demanding the removal of No 10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, with one saying this weekend: ‘It has got to the point where either Morgan goes or the Prime Minister does.
‘His removal is essential if Keir is to avoid a challenge. Starmer doesn’t understand the level of fury among MPs.’
The fear of a coup helps to explain why Ms Reeves changed her mind about increasing income tax.
Mr Streeting was publicly opposed to the increase and stood to benefit from the backlash.
It means that the total number of Labour Ministers and MPs considering making a pitch for No 10 is now closer to a dozen.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is the favourite among both the public and the Labour Party members who vote in the contest.
However, unlike Mr Streeting, he is currently marooned in the North without a Commons seat.
Mr Streeting’s allies hope he will make a move on No 10 before his main rival, Ms Rayner, recovers from her resignation as Deputy Prime Minister for underpaying stamp duty and while the ‘King of the North’ Mr Burnham is still working out how to re-enter Parliament to launch his own bid.
Because Mr Streeting lags in the ratings among party members – Mr Burnham leads, followed by Ms Rayner – his allies would prefer a ‘coronation’ to a contest.
A Labour source said: ‘We think Wes is trying to push for an early contest before the other candidates can properly mobilise.
‘It is not clear how he would get the 80 MPs necessary for the nomination.
‘But things can’t carry on like they have over the past week. Something has to change’.
Last week’s game of political dominoes started after McSweeney tried to quell the clamour about Sir Keir’s future by giving a briefing to The Times, stating that the PM would fight any challenge.
Because Mr Streeting was not singled out, Mr McSweeney is able to deny he was briefing against him. But others were not so careful.
After The Times article appeared, rival hacks followed it up – and secured direct verdicts on Mr Streeting’s perceived ambitions from sources close to Starmer’s inner circle.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Prime Minister, who is engaged in a power struggle with Mr McSweeney, is eyed with suspicion over the briefings, though he denies responsibility.
Sir Keir shut down his supposed ‘leak inquiry’ almost immediately by accepting denials that No 10 was involved and phoning Mr Streeting to apologise, but the damage had been done on the backbenches.
Mr Streeting was convinced that Mr McSweeney was the culprit and made his feelings clear in a ‘shouty’ phone call to him.
The shambles reveals the ever-shifting struggles and alliances within No 10, which Left-wing Labour MPs say is being subject to a ‘stealth takeover’ by Tony Blair’s key lieutenants.
Sir Keir’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, who ran Mr Blair’s Downing Street operation for ten years, is thought to be unimpressed by Mr McSweeney’s performance in the same job.
Also in the mix is former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, a non-executive director in Mr Streeting’s department.
His title belies his influence, which sources say extends to the vetting of key appointments.
Adding to the sense of a Blairite ‘zombie Government’ is the recent appointment of PR man Tim Allen, part of Mr Blair’s 1990s inner circle, as director of communications, along with the ubiquitous presence of Tom Baldwin, a protégé of Blair’s spin chief Alastair Campbell and close associate of Mr Allen, who is involving himself in both the No 10 and No 11 operations in multiple, and not always welcome, ways.
Clive Lewis, a Left-wing Labour MP who has been tipped to run as a ‘stalking horse’ against the PM, said of the Blairites: ‘At a time when government is struggling to deliver on its promises, bringing back the same small circle of advisers risks narrowing ideas when we need the opposite.
‘If No 10 leans too heavily on figures shaped by an older political moment, we repeat its blind spots.
‘The country needs fresh thinking rooted in today’s challenges, not a return to a model that has already shown its limits.’
Mr Streeting has started to distance himself from the Blair wing by tacking more towards the Palestinian cause, calling for Ms Rayner’s return to government and lavishing praise on Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader and a political ally of Mr Burnham.
In addition to Home Secretary Ms Mahmoud and Energy Secretary Mr Miliband, other possible leadership contenders include Defence Secretary John Healey, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh – reported in last week’s MoS to be at the centre of plotting in an upmarket Italian restaurant – and Ms Powell.
A Labour MP said: ‘There’s mounting fury over Starmer’s reaction to the briefing crisis. He is out of touch and in denial.
‘It took the best part of a day to pick up the phone to Wes’.
A senior Labour source said: ‘Initially people thought Keir probably wasn’t involved.
But the way he’s tried to shrug the whole thing off, not taken any action and tried to push the line No 10 weren’t behind the briefings is starting to make people think he did have a role.’
Another source even believes the briefing was designed to boost Mr Streeting, saying: ‘Morgan is from Wes’s wing of the party. Keir was always the frontman for his project.
‘Now he’s decided he needs a new frontman.’
