Sir Keir Starmer is braced for Ed Miliband to resign next week as part of a co-ordinated coup to force him out should he refuse to make way for an Andy Burnham coronation. The Mail has more.
Allies of the Prime Minister believe the Energy Secretary is poised to lead a wave of ministerial resignations if Sir Keir refuses to bow to Andy Burnham’s demands to quit.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also been placed on resignation watch amid reports that she has done a deal with Burnham – a claim she denies.
Allies of the PM insist he is serious about fighting for his job and has already drawn up a list of loyal MPs who could fill vacant posts.
A source told the Mail: “Andy’s level of entitlement is off the scale. He wants a coronation so he doesn’t have to face any scrutiny and it seems he is willing to cause as much disruption to the Government as possible to get it.
“We are braced for some spectacular resignations next week. Ed thinks he’s going to be Andy’s chancellor and all the signs are there that he is getting ready to walk.
“Shabana has been having conversations with Andy’s team – she could go too.
“All of it is designed to pile pressure on the PM to go quietly. If it works, then certain newspapers would be justified in describing it as a Left-wing coup.”
Voters go to the polls today in the crunch Makerfield by-election, which Burnham hopes to use as a vehicle for his ambition to take the keys to No. 10.
If he sees off the local challenge from Reform UK, he is expected to issue a private ultimatum to the PM this weekend, telling him he must set out a timetable for departure or face an imminent challenge.
Sir Keir on Wednesday insisted again that he will not step down.
In an apparent peace offering he suggested that Burnham could be offered a “big” role in the Cabinet.
But the PM insisted Burnham should first keep his promise to lead the fight to retain Labour control in the by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty which he has triggered.
Worth reading in full.
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The only good thing about Burnham’s “landslide win” is that it is going to be an interesting time in politics – no political pundits are voicing the same outcome and there are so many variables.
Looking at Makerfield, I simply cannot understand why anyone would vote Liebour and I think that Burnham will be even worse than Starmer. But I am looking forward to seeing the squirming from our PM and his final inevitable end. If only he was as strong against his back benchers as he is about keeping his job….. it’s the only time he’s shown any backbone.
The turkeys in makerfield have voted for Christmas….
“Our Father who art in heaven ……
….. deliver us from Starmer ….”
Maybe those turkeys are smarter than you are giving them credit for.
“Starmer braced”
Isn’t he well used to bracing himself?
Oh please, oh please…
Some good news and a fine reason to keep Two Tier Kier in place. Let’s see what the morning brings but for those wanting to stay up for the byelection result, at least you can watch the football while you wait.
Milliband runs the country we can all see that, Burnham or whoever will just be another puppet. Starmer ought to get in quick and sack Milliband,
Will this give Starmer an opportunity to get Miliband sectioned? Or would parliamentary privilege protect him?
A perfect example of how detached establishment parties are from the general population.
In the micro world of internal Labour politics, Ed Miliband’s resignation is seen as a death blow to Startmer.
Out in the real world, I don’t think anyone likes Miliband one bit. So one would think Starmer waving goodbye to him would probably increase his popularity even if only by a bit.
Somehow, the party political eco-system, governed by party apparatchiks together with mainstream media and polling companies is what decides the political slop that going to be prepared and served up to the public for the next election.
Allegedly, Miliband is a hot favourite amongst the party membership, there’s quite a strong chance that, if he were to throw his hat into the ring, he might get the job.
Astonishing really, when you realise they’re looking at people who have already failed to be their saviour…
Yes, hard to believe but it is true although he has not made any suggestion that he would have a go at becoming leader again.
I cannot see Starmer leaving quietly. He knows the other Cabinet ministers, Labour MPs and Union officials will be more interested in another 3 years at the trough than supporting a man who has just joined at the last minute.
Wallace’s evil twin can’t go soon enough.
There is a rumour that John Healey has 81 names to mount a leadership challenge and is just waiting to see the outcome of Makerfield by-election.
So even if His Highness Burnham wins the election, he may not get into No 10 after all, as it is suggested Healey is more generally popular among the Labour lizards.
You could make an argument that we actually have a version of constitutional Premiership – rather like constitutional monarchy – bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework.
So no matter who becomes or remains Prime Minister their job is largely decorative and traditional and means little.
It is tempting to hope that John Healey could become Prime Minister and so see off Starmer, Burnham, Streeting, Reeves, and especially Miliband. But there is no guarantee that such an outcome would be anything other than another constitutional Premiership. Not as long as the Blob are pulling strings.
The question I have is this: whoever finally becomes PM, who will be in their cabinet? If the current cabinet were the best Starmer could find, who’s in the running next?
Okay, two questions…
“Allies of the PM insist he is serious about fighting for his job…”
Oh, we already know he is serious about that. Problem is, he isn’t serious about anything else!
In a sea of disasters anything that causes Mad Ed to flounce off/resign is a bonus. Perhaps he could think of resigning as an MP too?
Unfortunately him being Chancellor, can you imagine?
They’re all snakes. Typical politicians. I wouldn’t trust any of them as far as I can spit — which is about 18 inches. With regards to Mad Ed becoming Chancellor, Gawd ‘elp us. We’ll all be bankrupt quicker than you can say “Rachel from Complaints”.
I hope Starmer fights it out for maximum damage to Labour.