Keir Starmer has entered what might be described as the peak delusion period of what remains of his time in Downing Street. There was fresh evidence of the Prime Minister’s all-consuming divorce from political reality in his latest comments about Andy Burnham, who is widely predicted to win the Makerfield by-election today, and then go on to launch a leadership challenge to turf the PM out of Downing Street.
The PM just doesn’t get it
Anyone and everyone knows all this and more, except Starmer apparently, who called Burnham “a great asset” and said he deserved “a big role in government”. What is Starmer smoking? The only big role in government that Burnham wants is Starmer’s job in Number 10. That’s the whole point of Burnham’s return to Westminster. Any attempt to pretend otherwise merely invites mockery.
Starmer’s delusions don’t end there. He goes on to suggest that it would be wrong for Labour to hold a leadership challenge ahead of a likely election to replace Burnham as mayor of Greater Manchester which he described as “one of the biggest by elections we’ve ever fought, because of the scale of it”.
The PM just doesn’t get it. The response of those who want him out will be to suggest that the best way for Labour to hold on to the Manchester mayoralty is for Starmer to announce he is resigning. They would argue that anything less merely allows Reform to campaign on a “vote Reform, get rid of Starmer” platform that proved so effective in the local elections in May.
For added measure – and this has become a constant in the twilight period of Starmer’s premiership – he repeated his intention to fight any leadership challenge: “If there is a challenge, then I intend to fight. I’m not going to walk away from that, and I’ve been clear and consistent about that”.
There will be a leadership challenge if he doesn’t go voluntarily. It is not a case of if, but when. Everyone knows as much, except Starmer apparently.
There are plenty of real-world consequences to this never-ending Labour leadership psychodrama. Starmer is weak and growing weaker by the day, and there is semi-open mutiny from senior ministers.
A report in the Times suggests that Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has been “ghosting” his leader in recent weeks. Senior government sources are quoted as claiming that Miliband declined to take calls from the PM during a stand-off over defence spending. This has been denied by Miliband’s team.
Even so, relations between the two men are believed to have deteriorated significantly since Miliband became the first cabinet minister to advise Starmer to set out a timeline for his departure. The newspaper also claims “several cabinet ministers are weighing up whether to resign after the by-election in an attempt to force Starmer’s hand,” including potentially Miliband.
Meanwhile, Wes Streeting, the former health secretary, has said he will launch a leadership bid possibly as early as next week if Starmer doesn’t set a timetable for his departure.
Yet in Starmer World, none of this is really happening. Instead, ministers are united and working towards a common goal of making the country a better place. Andy Burnham will soon be joining the merry crew, happy to serve under Starmer, in an unspecified “big role”. The levels of make-believe involved are tragic.
Starmer cut a forlorn and isolated figure at the G7 summit in France this week. His waning influence on the global stage because of his increasingly tenuous hold on Downing Street was all too apparent at the leaders’ gathering. On a live feed, Starmer could be seen standing next to the leaders of Canada and Japan as they made small talk.
“Are they, are they having a meeting?” the Prime Minister could be heard asking. If there was a meeting going on, it seemed he hadn’t been invited. These international gatherings are supposed to be Starmer’s safe space, a setting in which he can get to play the role of statesman. That image has been irretrievably damaged by the resignation of John Healey as defence secretary and his devastating indictment of his own leader as someone unable to make the decisions required to defend the country.
Starmer could be seen standing next to the leaders of Canada and Japan as they made small talk
The government’s failure to put forward a credible defence plan will not have been lost on the US President Donald Trump. There have been frantic attempts by Downing Street to refute any suggestion that Starmer was snubbed by Donald Trump at the G7, with Number Ten pointing to the two hours Starmer spent sitting next to Trump during the opening leaders-only dinner on Monday evening. The Prime Minister continues to insist that he “gets on really well” with the US leader even though the pair did not hold a one-to-one meeting. In other words, more delusional thinking on the part of our dear leader.
The government is in a state of paralysis, with Keir Starmer’s time in power over in all but name. He is perhaps the only person left – in Westminster and beyond – who still appears to think he has some say over what happens next. It is his last and most self-serving delusion. True to form, he will hang on to it right until the Downing Street removals vans arrive.
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