Like members of a communist Politburo, one-by-one members of Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet declared their enduring support for their embattled leader on Monday, as the prime minister’s government threatened to crumble around him.
On a day of high tension in Downing Street, Starmer and his team battled to stave off a coup, following a damaging attack on the perceived failures of the prime minister by Anas Sarwar, Labour’s leader in Scotland.
News of Sarwar’s political hit job began to leak out at lunchtime and Downing Street braced itself for what loyal ministers feared could be the start of a plot involving health secretary Wes Streeting to topple Starmer.
For several hours, Starmer’s team held its breath. David Lammy, deputy prime minister, and Rachel Reeves, chancellor, were among the first to come out and publicly declare their loyalty, but from potential rivals there was an ominous silence.
It was only at just after 3pm that Streeting declared to the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that “Keir Starmer doesn’t need to resign”, adding: “Give Keir a chance”.
When Angela Rayner, former deputy prime minister, declared at 3.38pm on X that she was backing Starmer, Number 10 officials allowed themselves a sigh of relief.
Some drew parallels with the failed coup against Gordon Brown in 2009, when cabinet minister James Purnell quit in the hope of triggering a leadership bid by David Miliband, then foreign secretary. Miliband failed to act.
Ministers believe Sarwar’s speech was meant to be a precursor to Streeting moving against the prime minister.
“He went over the parapet, and then looked around, and was like . . . guys . . . guys . . . where are you guys . . . oh fuck,” said one Starmer ally.
A spokesperson for Streeting denied the claim, saying it was yet another example of the “problem” of anonymous briefings from inside Downing Street.
One cabinet minister said: “At one point I was worried we could be in a contest by tonight but Anas smoked everyone out into declaring for Keir.”
The reprieve may only be temporary: after all Starmer has endured a 48 hours in which he has lost two of his most important allies in Number 10 and seen his Scottish party leader calling for him to be toppled.
His position remains in grave danger. The impending release of documents relating to Starmer’s disastrous appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, in spite of the peer’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, still hangs over the prime minister.
But whether out of naked self-interest or ideas about national interest, many Labour MPs and ministers have looked over the precipice and have decided not to jump. At least not yet.
Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, told the FT: “The vast majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party don’t want a leadership contest. They are behind Keir.”
Powell has no personal reason to stand behind Starmer, who sacked her from the cabinet last September. She is also an ally of Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, whose efforts to return to Westminster as an MP were blocked by Starmer last month.
The simple fact is that nobody in the party, including Sarwar, has any idea who would emerge as Britain’s prime minister if Starmer was toppled. A leadership contest would inevitably lead to Labour factional warfare and risk damaging economic uncertainty.
Streeting, a long-standing ally of Mandelson, knows he would be pilloried by MPs if he was seen to exploit a crisis caused by the former ambassador’s association with Epstein. Rayner is still sorting out her tax affairs with HM Revenue & Customs.
The fact that Al Carns, a former special forces officer and junior defence minister unknown to most voters, is even being talked about as a potential candidate is a reminder to Labour MPs that removing Starmer would be a leap into the unknown.
Number 10 officials are busy reminding MPs that if the City of London and CEOs had a say, many would want Starmer to stay in office in spite of his shortcomings, rather than unleash a new round of political uncertainty.
If Starmer has any breathing space, it is likely to be shortlived and colleagues, including Powell, are urging him to immediately change the way he governs.
“This is the moment to be more inclusive, to be more plural, to build bridges,” Powell said in a café in the Gorton and Denton constituency, which Labour fears it could lose in a by-election on February 26 to the Greens or Reform UK. “That is what Keir is going to do.”
Starmer, who addressed the shattered remaining members of his team on Monday morning, on Sunday approved the resignation of Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, his closest ally for six years and the person who has defined the prime minister’s political project.
On Monday Tim Allan, Starmer’s fourth communications director since he arrived in Number 10 in July 2024, also quit “to allow a new No 10 team to be built”. He spent the day on the golf course instead of at his Downing Street desk.
The fact that both McSweeney and Allan were friends with Mandelson of many years’ standing and hail from the right of the Labour Party made them obvious targets for criticism from other sections of the party.
The soft left expects that Starmer will now shift the balance of the advice he receives and position himself closer to the centre of gravity of the parliamentary party and indeed the Labour membership.
Some Labour MPs believe that it will also allow Starmer to counter a persistent sense of a “boys club” environment in his inner circle, an idea first advanced by Baroness Sue Gray before she was sacked in 2024 by Starmer shortly after entering office and replaced by McSweeney.
Starmer’s fateful willingness to turn a blind eye to Mandelson’s links to Epstein when appointing him as envoy was criticised by all Labour MPs but “especially women”, according to one minister.
It has been “true for a while” that Starmer needs to listen more to women in both Downing Street and the Parliamentary Labour Party, added another female Labour MP.
The prime minister’s address to his parliamentary party on Monday night was seen by his allies as a key moment to try to move on from a horrendous 48 hours and to try to prove to critics that he can change and deliver competent and decisive leadership.
One Labour official said the PLP appeared ungovernable, and questioned who would be willing to take up the role of communications director at what appeared to be the “fag end” of Starmer’s administration. “Everyone’s waiting on a new regime,” the person added.
Westminster is in a febrile state and Starmer knows that he remains vulnerable. A parliamentary half-term recess, starting on Thursday night, cannot come soon enough for the prime minister.
The Gorton and Denton by-election at the end of February remains a potential trigger point for more leadership speculation, as do the bigger electoral tests of May 7, when voters elect new English councils and Scottish and Welsh parliaments. “It’s zombie time until May,” said one minister.
Nobody knows how long Starmer’s reprieve will last. Even Andrew Bowie, the Tory shadow Scottish secretary, appeared to concede that the political obituaries may not be needed just yet. “Anas Sarwar has just put one of the final nails in Starmer’s political coffin,” he said.
Starmer’s team may have survived Monday but remain in a state of high anxiety. One ally said: “We’ve got to get to the weekend. We aren’t looking beyond right now.”