Keir Starmer will remain in office for the time being. The beleaguered British Labor Prime Minister used the weekly parliamentary group meeting on Monday evening to appear combative. He dismissed all speculation that he might be due throwing in the towel on the affair surrounding his closeness to former Labor politician and Epstein friend Peter Mandelson. “I’ve won every fight I’ve ever been in,” he said, according to attendees. “I will stay in this fight as long as I can breathe.”
By the afternoon, all members of the government had published statements in which they supported Starmer – or had to publish them, as an unnamed minister revealed to journalists. The government was apparently forced into this PR offensive after Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar called London from Edinburgh in the early afternoon and announced that he would be at a press conference in an hour publicly calling for Starmer’s resignation. Starmer had to fear that this could be the start of a coordinated revolt against him by the Labor leadership.
In the end, it wasn’t Starmer who found himself isolated, but rather Sarwar, who obviously hadn’t agreed with anyone. This has now reduced the political and media excitement somewhat. Since Starmer admitted on Wednesday last week that he was fully aware of Mandelson’s Epstein friendship when he appointed him at the end of 2024 Ambassador to the USA and since a threatened party revolt forced him to disclose all government communications with Mandelson and refer the matter to the parliamentary intelligence committee, there has been speculation about his impending demise.
A series of resignations recently reinforced the impression of loss of control. On Sunday, Starmer’s chief of staff and closest adviser laid down his position Morgan McSweeney Starmer’s communications director resigned on Monday Tim Allan. Starmer’s Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormaldthe highest-ranking official, is also said to have resigned, journalists reported on Tuesday: only his severance payment is being negotiated. A sinking ship never had so many rats, it was said a nasty comment.
The declarations of loyalty from his cabinet and his combative appearance in front of the parliamentary group now make Starmer look a little more stable again. Above all, his rivals can now indignantly reject any accusation of preparing a coup and calmly wait for Starmer to further dismantle himself.
Because the Prime Minister has barely caught himself, there is already talk of withdrawing the parliamentary resolution that… Handling security-related Mandelson files left to the Intelligence Committee. Starmer’s office apparently wants to regain control of the files, the release of which could cause a lasting scandal. But even the attempt would fuel the suspicion that Starmer wanted to cover up instead of clarify. He probably wouldn’t survive that politically.