The first MP within British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s own left-wing Labour Party has taken a stand against Downing Street and called for his leader to step down.
The knives appear to be coming out for Prime Minister Starmer from within the left-wing Labour Party, with Norwich South MP Clive Lewis publicly breaking ranks with Downing Street.
In an interview with Channel 4, the leftist lawmaker argued that Starmer’s position has become unsustainable and that the party should create a parliamentary seat opening for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to pave the way for him to become the next PM.
“It’s not tenable, frankly. And we now need to do what the Prime Minister once said, which is put country before party and, frankly, party before personal ambition,” Lewis said. “I just don’t see how this can stagger on without any resolution on the horizon.”
“I think the Labour Party, the Labour grandees, the men in grey suits, need to now really seriously think, how do we get Andy Burnham back into this parliamentary Labour Party and let him step up and become the next prime minister,” the Labour MP added.
“That’s my personal view. I know it won’t be shared by everyone, but I don’t see many other options.”
Burnham, who previously served in the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown governments, has sought to rebrand his image as a Westminster establishment insider by spending the past decade outside of London, serving as the mayor of Greater Manchester. He has previously run for the Labour leadership and in September suggested that he would be willing to replace Starmer.
Meanwhile, former Deputy PM Angela Rayner also appears to be on manoeuvres, with reports emerging that in a bid to secure support in the House of Commons, she is allegedly offering MPs top positions in her potential government. It comes despite Rayner having to step down from Starmer’s cabinet as Housing Secretary after it emerged that she had failed to pay the proper amount of property tax on her second home.
It comes after a chaotic week inside Downing Street, with open infighting breaking out into the press as party insiders suggested the Health Secretary Wes Streeting was plotting a Number 10 coup to take out Starmer and install himself as leader.
Streeting firmly denied the accusations and Starmer said that he would launch an investigation to find out who had briefed against the Health Secretary.
In a further embarrassment for the government, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was forced to back away from her planned income tax rises, over concerns that it would further anger voters, who have been fleeing the party to alternatives such as the resurgent Green Party and Nigel Farage’s poll-topping Reform UK party.
An Opinium survey found this month that Farage is now more trusted to manage the British economy than any other major politician, while Starmer and Reeves are the least trusted. The poll further found that 56 per cent of voters believe that Prime Minister Starmer should resign.
Since winning a commanding majority at last year’s general election, support for Starmer’s Labour Party has collapsed, with Reform holding a double-digit lead in the polls and widely predicted to win the next election.
