The Beginning of the End

By now, most politics watchers are habituated to the pratfalls and incompetencies of Keir Starmer's operation. What, just a year ago, was feted as a genius team headed by a once-in-a-generation politics virtuoso has blundered its way to some of Labour's worst-ever poll ratings. And then there was last night.

In case you missed it, the Number 10 briefed The Graun that fortifications have been erected around the Prime Minister. The trigger was tearoom tattle, with grumbling MPs preparing a leadership bid for the obsequiously loyal Wes Streeting. The Health Secretary allegedly has 50 frontbenchers ready to resign to force Starmer from office. Just as a similar strike did for Boris Johnson. This could happen as early as after the budget, if it goes badly. The (anonymous) "allies of Starmer" were quoted as saying that taking him out would ruin Labour for a generation. A silly argument, seeing as the leadership are managing that job themselves. Another Downing Street aide/McSweeney alter ego said if Starmer gets the heave ho, "the public will just think we’re no different from the last lot." You've got to presume they haven't knocked on any doors lately.

I can't speak to whether Streeting has lined up 50 volunteers ready to immolate their careers for his greater glory, but you can understand why the Downing Street bunker is suspicious. They read the same reports as everyone else. Streeting speaks to people. He's seen in the Commons tearooms. He does the CLP rounds, dropping in on special meetings and fundraisers. It's likely December has more than a few party Christmas dinners scheduled for him. And this is in marked contrast to Starmer who does none of this. Folks with long memories might recall how uncomfortable he found the 2020 leadership election, and since becoming leader he's avoided the gladhanding all party leaders have to do. As the dearly departed Angela Rayner happily zipped up and down the country and operated an open door policy for backbenchers, the "insiders" are bound to view Streeting's entirely normal activities for a minister through their own paranoid prism.

Pushing this story out Tuesday night was especially stupid when the media grid had Streeting out doing breakfast TV and morning radio on Wednesday. Though much overrated as a performer, he easily laughed the hostile briefings off. Even more foolish was amplifying Westminster grumblings into national news stories. Nothing says the Prime Minister is vulnerable quite like telling everyone how he's prepared to take on all-comers. It looks desperate, and feeds the impression of chaos and paralysis that supposedly separates them out from the Tories and Reform.

What is new this time was singling Streeting out for the unfriendly briefing treatment. It's worth noting that McSweeney's crew, who normally target prominent women in government, have now branched out to attack an openly gay man. Coincidence or pattern of behaviour? But for anyone who's spent a while following Labour factionalism knows, if there was a political objective behind McSweeney's machinations it was to make the party safe for a Streeting leadership candidacy. Therefore, asking the 11-dimensional question is justified. Was the attack a cynical exercise in creating a groundswell of sympathy toward Streeting ahead of the next leadership election, which now seems inevitable after next year's local elections? I don't think so. They thought boasting about undermining Jeremy Corbyn was a clever thing to do. And then there is idiocy of their Blue Labour strategy, minus the Laboury bits. I don't want to afford them credit for embarking on a plan with many moving parts.

Nevertheless, this is the consequence. Starmer's "defence" has made his position weaker. What was supposed to slap Streeting down has done the impossible and made him into a sympathetic figure. None of it has scotched talk of leadership challenges. And so a new, terminal phase of Starmer's leadership has begin by his own hand. This is all that's going to be talked about in the build up to the budget, after every "inadvertent error", unpopular decision, press briefing, and disagreement. On and on it will go without cease until the crypt finally opens and the corpse of Keir's career is interred.

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