Allies of Britain’s Keir Starmer launch effort to ward off a leadership challenge

LONDON – Allies of Mr Keir Starmer sought to ward off a feared leadership challenge from one of the British Premier’s best-known ministers, as Cabinet feuds spilled into the open just weeks before the government is due to unveil a contentious budget. 

Mr Starmer’s supporters privately accused Health Secretary Wes Streeting of plotting to replace the Prime Minister, according to people familiar with the matter, in an acknowledgment of his weakened position after months of Labour Party rebellions and stubbornly low poll numbers.

They argued that any attempt to oust Mr Starmer would risk a market shock and undermine the government’s finances, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal disputes.  

A spokesperson for Mr Streeting described the claims that the minister was after Mr Starmer’s job as “categorically untrue”.

Another official said that Downing Street had gone into bunker mode and initiated a circular firing squad.

While Mr Starmer has been struggling to quell dissent within the Labour Party since before the election 16 months ago, the Cabinet has largely maintained the appearance of unity.

A split with a leading minister from Mr Starmer’s own centrist wing of the party represents a potentially more serious threat than when Mr Andy Burnham – the more left-leaning mayor of Greater Manchester – called the Prime Minister’s leadership into question at the governing party’s annual conference.

The exchanges between supporters of Mr Starmer and Mr Streeting come as the government readies to unveil a budget on Nov 26 that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has warned would be challenging.

They suggest that Downing Street officials are already concerned that the spending plan – including potentially scrapping the party’s vows against raising broad-based taxes – could prompt leadership threats. 

Reports of Mr Starmer’s efforts to fight back were splashed across British news sites on the evening of Nov 11.

Over the past week, the Prime Minister’s team received new information that suggested Mr Streeting had been actively plotting a coup, a person familiar with the matter said, declining to elaborate.

Mr Streeting’s spokesperson denied the allegation. 

Supporters of the Premier conducted a recent exercise with investors where they were told that any alternatives to Mr Starmer and Ms Reeves would result in a significant rise in gilt yields, according to a person familiar with the matter.

That risked further destabilising the government’s finances, the person said.

Labour Members of Parliament have grown increasingly anxious about the party’s fortunes as Mr Starmer struggled to stop the rise of populist Reform UK, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.

Mr Streeting – along with Mr Burnham and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – has long ranked on betting markets among the Labour politicians most likely to succeed Mr Starmer as prime minister. 

Until recently, Mr Streeting was seen as one of the best defenders of Mr Starmer’s agenda.

The MP from east London has been identified with the right of the Labour Party, including blunt assessments of the totemic National Health Service, a potential obstacle to winning support from more left-wing Labour members.

Last July, Mr Streeting won his nominally safe seat by only 528 votes, down from more than 5,000 in the previous election.

A strong challenge from an independent British-Palestinian candidate – propelled in part by misgivings about Mr Starmer’s policy towards Israel – has caused some to argue that Mr Streeting is too vulnerable to lead the party through the next election, which must be held by 2029. 

Mr Starmer has made a series of comments to the media in recent months that stray beyond his health brief into areas such as Gaza and Brexit. Labour officials who spoke with Bloomberg have perceived these interventions as an effort to reposition himself in the eyes of party members.

The budget that Ms Reeves is due to deliver later in November has been widely expected to test the party’s promise not to raise income tax, something that some supporters of Mr Starmer fear could imperil his position. The pledge was central to a campaign manifesto that helped lift Labour to power for the first time in 14 years. 

Even if the budget goes well and Mr Starmer sees off any immediate leadership threats, more political peril lies around the corner.

Some in Labour have suggested that a set of local elections in May could be a crunch moment that could trigger a leadership contest if the party performs poorly.
BLOOMBERG