Cabinet forced to back Starmer to save his skin

It was not the start to a momentous day in politics that Westminster had been expecting.

As bleary-eyed MPs and journalists switched on their TV sets shortly after 7am, they were surprised to be greeted by the sight of Jacqui Smith.

As Sir Keir Starmer fought for his political survival, had No 10 really sent out a junior minister to endure the morning broadcast round?

Were no Cabinet ministers prepared to go out to bat for Sir Keir in the wake of the resignation of his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney?

It had dangerous echoes of the dying days of Boris Johnson’s administration, when members of his top team simply refused to trot out the party line on the airwaves.

Labour insiders would later insist Ms Smith had long been scheduled to appear to talk about apprenticeships, but the failure to swap in a more senior face betrayed a lack of political nous and fleet-footedness by those around Sir Keir.

In a jumpy Westminster, rumours began to circulate that Angela Rayner was planning a big intervention against the Prime Minister, though they were swiftly dismissed by her allies as “b------s”.

Then, as backbench MPs, who had spent the weekend taking the temperature of their constituents, were packing their bags and heading for London, news dropped that Anas Sarwar was planning an emergency press conference.

Not long after, the reason for his impromptu appearance became clear. The Scottish Labour leader, staring down the barrel of a catastrophic defeat in this summer’s Holyrood elections, had decided to pull the trigger.

Mr Sarwar’s conference was due to start at 2.30pm but by 1pm the cat was out of the bag.

For the next 90 minutes, everyone at Westminster knew what was about to happen but nobody seemed willing to say anything about it.

The lull was only punctuated by the arrival of a van bringing an on-site shredding service into Downing Street, prompting unfortunate quips about the Mandelson files.

But just before 2.30pm the cameras were switched on in Glasgow and the real action began.

A podium had been set up in front of a giant Saltire background emblazoned with the words “Scotland’s choice”. Mr Sarwar strode determinedly up and got to the point immediately.

“This isn’t easy and it’s not without pain,” he said in the shortest of preambles. His mind had been made up. “The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”

No 10 had made the most of its 90-minute warning and was not caught out this time. Aides had been ringing round Cabinet ministers demanding they post a show of loyalty on social media.

David Lammy was the first Cabinet minister to publicly leap to Sir Keir’s defence, posting before Mr Sarwar had even opened his mouth at 2.28pm.

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, followed hot on his heels at 2.41pm and was succeeded by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, just over 10 minutes later.

Just before 3pm, Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, rowed in behind the Prime Minister. As one of Wes Streeting’s closest political friends, his endorsement was significant.

A few minutes after that Sky News posted a clip of Mr Streeting appearing on its political podcast in which he directly gave his, albeit lukewarm, backing to Sir Keir. It was, he suggested, right to give Keir “a chance”.

At this point the main questions were surrounding Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary. Would one of those big hitters be prepared to break ranks?

Mr Miliband, so often rumoured to fancy another tilt at Labour’s top job, was the first of the trio to back the Prime Minister, posting his message at 3.10pm.

Ms Nandy, who stood against Sir Keir for the leadership in 2020, followed suit 15 minutes later. The final holdout was Ms Mahmood, though that was more to do with unfortunate timing than a lack of support for Sir Keir.

Having spent an hour on her feet in the Commons answering questions about crime and immigration, the Home Secretary posted her message of support at 3.37pm, just minutes after she left the chamber.

And so the entire Cabinet had rallied behind Sir Keir in just an hour and nine minutes. Mr Sarwar, meanwhile, was unflatteringly compared to James Purnell, the former work and pensions secretary who launched a botched attempt to oust Gordon Brown in 2009. Mr Brown dubbed that botched coup a moment of “silliness”.

Moments later things were to get even better for No 10. Ms Rayner, earlier rumoured to be planning a potentially fatal attack on the Prime Minister, saw which way the wind had already blown and voiced her “full support” for Sir Keir’s leadership.

The former deputy prime minister was also forced to disown a website that was apparently set up to support her future leadership bid and which was accidentally set live last month.

No 10 advisers, meanwhile, kept the pressure up, texting junior ministers and urging them to post social media messages in support of the Prime Minister.

All of which meant that Sir Keir went into a crucial meeting with his backbenchers on Monday night at least temporarily assured of his position.

In what was described by MPs as a pugnacious performance, he warned that splits within his party risked opening the door to Reform UK.

He also issued a warning to any would-be leadership plotters: “I’ve won every fight I’ve been in.”

Many doubt that he will survive beyond May’s local elections, when Labour is expected to take a hammering at the expense of Nigel Farage’s party and the Greens.

But having scraped through the most perilous 24 hours for his premiership, the embattled Prime Minister will live to fight another day.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]