Keir Starmer is being warned he has only secured a stay of execution after Labour put on a show of unity at conference.
Ministers and activists publicly rallied round the PM at the gathering in Liverpool, as Sir Keir tried to lift the mood with brutal barbs at Nigel Farage.
The humiliating collapse of Andy Burnham’s leadership push also helped bail the premier out of immediate trouble. Allies hope he can now focus on projecting a tough message on immigration to placate the fury of ordinary Brits.
However, privately the mood remains grim with fears that huge tax rises expected in the Budget next month will deliver another hammer blow to Sir Keir’s prospects.
Local elections in May are seen as the critical moment, with Reform on track to storm more councils, the Senedd and make significant progress in Scotland.
A More in Common poll published yesterday suggested Mr Farage’s party had a 10-point lead over Labour in headline voting intention, with early signs that Sir Keir’s more aggressive tactics might be backfiring.
Sadiq Khan was among the senior figures who criticised the PM’s decision to brand Reform’s immigration policy ‘racist’, suggesting it is a ‘loaded word’.
There is also a brewing Cabinet revolt over plans for digital ID cards, while senior ministers acknowledge the reshuffle has caused resentment.
One told the Daily Mail that they still did not understand some of the appointments in the overhaul – which followed the bombshell resignation of Angela Rayner.
‘We were looking at each other around the table and thinking – it’s the same faces but we’re all in the wrong seats,’ they said.
A Labour veteran said they were ‘glad it’s all over’. ‘He has some breathing space but the fundamentals haven’t changed,’ they added.
Another aide insisted: ‘We’ve got a bit of wriggle room, but there’s nothing easy about this situation.’
Cabinet ministers told the Guardian that they still worried Sir Keir would have to go in May.
‘I think if there does come a moment where the country seems otherwise irreversibly on the path towards Farage then he would do the right thing and clear the way,’ one said.
Meanwhile, concerns are intensifying over digital ID plans, with warnings that public opinion is already starting to turn against the idea.
One Cabinet minister told The Times: ‘The whole thing is a fantasy. You can already see opposition to this galvanising.
‘We need the voters on the soft left, and this will just alienate them. It’s not clear to me that this will do anything to stop people crossing the Channel anyway, given that migrants are already working illegally in the black economy.’
There have been complaints that the policy was presented to cabinet as a ‘fait accompli’ and is ‘too expensive and complicated’ to work.
