Labour MPs voice unease about Prime Minister’s control of party

Andy Burnham is preparing for a Labour leadership bid amid growing speculation that Sir Keir Starmer might leave office before the next election, according to claims.

The Labour Mayor for Greater Manchester has initiated a new campaign group urging the Government to tax wealth, nationalize utility companies, and eliminate the two-child benefit cap.

The most high-profile Labour mayor is also expected to publicly criticize Starmer at the Labour Party conference next month by calling for a reset of his Government, as reported by the Telegraph.

This potential challenge arises after a turbulent week for Starmer.

The Prime Minister’s judgment has been questioned by many over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his public links to the pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Mandelson’s dismissal came after the resignation of Starmer’s deputy, Angela Rayner, in what has been a chaotic return to Westminster following the summer recess.

A Labour backbencher suggested the Mandelson scandal could be "terminal" for Downing Street Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, and might also pose a significant issue for the Prime Minister.

They said: "I think Morgan McSweeney runs the show, and Keir just enables it and makes very bad decisions. I’m not sure how long this can continue though."

Another also suggested that the issues in Number 10 went beyond the chief of staff. They said: "Even a Morgan problem is ultimately a Keir problem."

Downing Street stated on Friday that the Prime Minister still had confidence in Mr. McSweeney’s judgment.

"Of course, the Prime Minister has confidence in his top team," a No 10 spokesman said.

The controversy over Mandelson could continue as he is believed to remain a government employee after refusing to resign, which might require a challenging HR process to fully remove him.

Whitehall sources told the Times the Government might be forced to prove that Lord Mandelson materially misled ministers and officials to avoid paying him a ’substantial’ taxpayer-funded payoff.

Clive Lewis became the first Labour MP to openly question Sir Keir’s future in the top job on Friday.

The MP for Norwich South said his fellow Labour MPs were feeling "concerned, slightly downtrodden, a little bit browbeaten" and that there was a "very dangerous atmosphere" in the parliamentary Labour party.

He told reporters: "You see a Labour Prime Minister who feels that he’s lost control within the first year.

"This isn’t self-obsession. This is me thinking about my constituents, this country, and the fact that the person who is eight points ahead of us is Nigel Farage. That terrifies me. It terrifies my constituents, and it terrifies a lot of people in this country.

"We don’t have the luxury of continuing this way with someone who I think increasingly, I’m sorry to say, just doesn’t seem up to the job." 

The policy proposals are viewed as a challenge from the left to Starmer’s Government, which is considered too right-wing by many of its backbenchers and members.

The new network of Labour members, Mainstream, has been compared to Labour Together, the platform that Sir Keir used to secure the Labour leadership in 2021.

The creation of the group is seen as the initial steps towards a new leadership challenge from the Manchester mayor.

Mr. Burnham’s challenge to Starmer extends to his support for Lucy Powell in the Labour deputy leadership race rather than the Government’s favored candidate, Bridget Phillipson.