Keir Starmer is desperately trying to thrash out a survival plan as Labour braces for a local elections catastrophe.
With just a week left until millions of Brits go to the polls, the PM’s allies are considering options for quelling a mutiny in his ranks.
Grim estimates overnight suggested the party could lose almost three-quarters of the council seats it is defending, with Scottish and Welsh Parliamentary contests looking similarly apocalyptic.
Meanwhile, Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham are on manoeuvres with Sir Keir’s grip on power looking increasingly shaky.
There are claims that Sir Keir is leaning away from the idea of a reshuffle immediately after the results, most of which will emerge next Friday.
Some supporters argue he should ask Ms Rayner to return to the Cabinet, but others have warned her ongoing wrangling with HMRC over unpaid stamp duty makes that impossible.
Keir Starmer is desperately trying to thrash out a survival plan as Labour braces for a local elections catastrophe
Angela Rayner (pictured), Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham are on manoeuvres with Sir Keir’s grip on power looking increasingly shaky
‘If ”Sir Rules” wants to bring back Rayner with an outstanding tax issue he really has lost the plot,’ one Labour veteran told the Daily Mail.
There are concerns among ministers that it is still ‘far too early’ for Ms Rayner to become leader, having resigned last September. ‘People still really resent what happened,’ one said.
Another Labour insider told the Daily Mail Sir Keir was in a no-win situation: ‘Whatever he does or doesn’t do will be really messy.’
Allies of Ms Rayner have suggested Sir Keir has ‘got to go’ after the Mandelson vetting scandal. According to the Times, the former deputy PM is preparing to make an intervention in the aftermath of dire results. Health Secretary Mr Streeting is also widely accused of readying a leadership challenge.
Mr Burnham stoked speculation about his own intentions yesterday by warning Labour will have to take a ‘different course’ after next week’s poll.
‘I understand the real frustration people have got with politics and politicians,’ the Greater Manchester mayor told Bloomberg.
‘Honestly, I really understand that. And they’re right to say politics just hasn’t been working’
Mr Burnham hinted he would try against to find a parliamentary seat after his return was blocked by Sir Keir this year.
‘We do need to reform Westminster,’ he said. ‘I can’t remove the kind of feeling that someday I will try and go back. I’m not ruling it out.’
There had been rumours that long-standing MP Peter Dowd might be willing to quit in order to give Mr Burnham an opportunity to return to the Commons.
But in a blow to Mr Burnham, Mr Dowd told BBC Merseyside yesterday: ‘I was elected to represent and serve the people of the Bootle constituency at the last election and intend to continue doing so.’
The lack of challengers who can immediately act current looks to be Sir Keir’s strongest defence against being defenestrated.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, a long-term critic of Sir Keir, said last night that he believed he would ‘limp on’.
But Labour sources fear there could be an ‘accidental detonation’ of the PM’s leadership if the emotional response to a poll drubbing is strong enough, leaving the Government in chaos.
Pollster Robert Hayward said Labour is facing a ‘pincer movement’ from Reform and the Greens which could see it lose as many as 1,850 seats when voters go to the polls on 7 May.
Lord Hayward, a Tory peer, said: ‘No government has ever faced a two-pronged attack on this scale from parties who are appealing to completely different audiences. So far it does not look like they have learned how to deal with either of them, let alone both.’
Mr Burnham stoked speculation about his own intentions yesterday by warning Labour will have to take a ‘different course’ after next week’s poll
Reform is set to be the big winner, with Nigel Farage’s party forecast to win around 1,550 across the country from virtually a standing start. Mr Farage himself has predicted sweeping gains against Labour in the North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands, along with gains against the Conservatives in traditional Tory strongholds in the south like Sussex and Essex.
The Greens, who currently hold 140 seats could win another 500 as the populist message of new leader Zack Polanski strikes a chord with left-wingers in parts of inner London and other metropolitan areas.
Independents could see their representation treble from 126 seats to 376.
