{"id":20206,"date":"2026-04-23T09:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/20206\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:17:20","slug":"streeting-allies-open-to-rayner-pact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/20206\/","title":{"rendered":"Streeting allies open to Rayner pact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s own Cabinet ministers have lost confidence in the Prime Minister\u2019s leadership, The i Paper can reveal \u2013 as Health Secretary Wes Streeting\u2019s<\/a> allies suggested they were open to a pact with former deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner<\/a> to succeed him.<\/p>\n

A Cabinet minister told The i Paper that they had lost patience with Starmer but that it was up to the Cabinet as a whole to move to depose him. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bleak,\u201d they said, reflecting on the Prime Minister\u2019s position after another week dominated by the fallout of the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to Washington.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s a question for the Cabinet and colleagues need to come to a view. I know what my view is.\u201d<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Starmer said he is proud of the work being done by his Cabinet and that \u201cnothing will distract the Prime Minister from delivering for our country\u201d.<\/p>\n

Following days of fresh revelations about the culture in Starmer\u2019s No 10, Labour MPs are frustrated and angry. At Westminster, some described how their party is caught in a Groundhog Day. No senior challenger is in a secure enough position to unseat Starmer, but the party is locked in endless circular discussions about whether their leader is up to the job.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s led some to call for Streeting and Rayner to form a pact to unite the party\u2019s different wings and avoid a bloody leadership contest. That idea is fraught with complexities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t go on like this. Wes and Ange have got to come to some accommodation,\u201d a minister said.<\/p>\n

Streeting-Rayner pact would be fraught with difficulty<\/p>\n

Allies of Streeting said he is warmer to the idea than Rayner is. While the pair get on superficially well, they come from different traditions in the party: Streeting on the centrist wing and Rayner on the soft left. They also have bad blood after Streeting helped organise moves to deselect former MP Sam Tarry, Rayner\u2019s partner, after a bitter row over the Ilford South seat in 2022. Spokespeople for both MPs declined to comment.<\/p>\n

\"\"No senior challenger is in a secure enough position to unseat Starmer (Photo: Leon Neal\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Rayner is currently on the back benches while she awaits the outcome of an HMRC investigation into whether she paid the correct amount of stamp duty on her \u00a3800,000 seafront apartment in Hove. Even so, some Labour MPs see her as the frontrunner to succeed Starmer. On Tuesday evening, in her latest intervention, she called for \u201cbold\u201d action from the Prime Minister to tackle cost of living pressures.<\/p>\n

There are obvious drawbacks to any suggestion of a deal between the pair. \u201cI just don\u2019t see how it works. Question One is \u2018Who is first on the ticket?\u2019 never mind the next 35 questions that follow,\u201d a Government source said. \u201cCould Ange even be touted as chancellor? The bond markets would go nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvette Cooper talked up as short-term leader<\/p>\n

Several Labour MPs talked up the prospect of Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper taking over from Starmer, perhaps in a temporary capacity. In a sign that some MPs were letting their imaginations run ahead of them, one suggested a three-way pact between Rayner, Streeting and Cooper. \u201cIn that scenario, you have Yvette as leader, a steady pair of hands. You give Ange foreign secretary and make Wes chancellor. That way you have Brownite, soft left and Blairite all together,\u201d they suggested.<\/p>\n

Starmer is becoming increasingly isolated as Cabinet ministers publicly distanced themselves from the Prime Minister after he faced claims of bullying officials into approving Mandelson\u2019s appointment. On Tuesday, in a high-stakes appearance before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, sacked mandarin Sir Olly Robbins,<\/a> the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, accused Downing Street of exerting \u201cconstant pressure\u201d on officials and taking a \u201cdismissive approach\u201d to security checks on Mandelson.<\/p>\n

In another bombshell, Robbins also revealed No 10 had attempted to find an ambassador\u2019s job for Starmer\u2019s political spin doctor Matthew Doyle<\/a> behind the back of David Lammy, the then-foreign secretary. Starmer did not deny it when pressed at Prime Minister\u2019s Questions (PMQs), saying there had been discussions \u201cbut nothing came of this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pat McFadden, the normally loyal Work and Pensions Secretary, repeatedly declined to say he believed Starmer\u2019s decision to sack Robbins was reasonable. Asked on Times Radio on Wednesday morning if the sacking felt fair, McFadden said he thought \u201cvery highly\u201d of Robbins but added: \u201cI think if the Prime Minister\u2019s made the judgement that he\u2019s not got confidence in the head of the Foreign Office, the head of the foreign service, then it\u2019s difficult to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked again if it was fair, McFadden said: \u201cLook, it\u2019s the Prime Minister\u2019s judgement.\u201d Asked a third time, McFadden said: \u201cAs a Cabinet member, I support the Prime Minister\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer loyalist urges MPs to support the Prime Minister<\/p>\n

By afternoon, McFadden had issued a fresh statement. \u201cI think that MPs should support the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been in office less than two years. He led the Labour Party to a very big election victory just under two years ago, and I think we\u2019ve had far too many changes to prime ministers in the UK in the last decade. It hasn\u2019t done the country much good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cooper said the alleged failure to inform Lammy of plans to make Doyle an ambassador was \u201cextremely concerning.\u201d Her remarks followed Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who said on Tuesday he had concerns at the time that Mandelson\u2019s appointment would \u201cblow up\u201d and disclosed that Lammy had concerns about Starmer\u2019s decision too.<\/p>\n

Starmer was widely credited for distancing the UK from the US-Israeli war on Iran. But he has since faced criticism both for sacking Robbins and for reminding Labour MPs of his lack of judgement in appointing Mandelson in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are going round in circles\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are back to where we were three months ago; people are now saying he\u2019s got to go after May [local election results]. Only recently, they were saying he could last longer after that strong showing on Iran, but after this week, that\u2019s evaporated again. We are going round in circles,\u201d a minister told The i Paper.<\/p>\n

A second minister disagreed that Starmer would go so soon. \u201cWe\u2019re in a holding pattern until the end of the calendar year. One of the major movers needs to make a move and they aren\u2019t in a position to. A random backbencher tweeting they\u2019re gonna walk to prompt a challenge when they\u2019re drunk doesn\u2019t cut it,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Even so, public criticism of the Prime Minister was beginning to surface from hitherto loyal MPs.<\/p>\n

Polly Billington, the vice chairwoman of the Parliamentary Labour Party and a former special adviser to Miliband, refused to say that she trusts Starmer\u2019s judgement.<\/p>\n

Speaking on BBC Radio 4\u2019s World at One, the MP for East Thanet was repeatedly pressed on the issue but declined to address it directly. When asked whether Starmer is up to the job and whether he has the judgement required to carry on, the Labour MP replied: \u201cWhat I am focused on is that we are clear we have a mandate from the British people in order to be able to deliver the change they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, also told GB News: \u201cIt\u2019s got to the point now where I genuinely think that, you know, as far as the Prime Minister\u2019s concerned, it\u2019s not a case of if, it\u2019s when.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone reasonably expects the Prime Minister to lead the party into the next election,\u201d Brash added.<\/p>\n

Badenoch\u2019s MPs taunt Starmer<\/p>\n

At PMQs, frontbench Conservatives waved and mouthed \u201cbye-bye\u201d at Starmer. Meanwhile, Labour MPs were mostly withdrawn during exchanges with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.<\/p>\n

Badenoch told Starmer Labour backbenchers know it is \u201cnot fair\u201d that Robbins was sacked and asked the Prime Minister to \u201ctake responsibility and go\u201d. In reply, Starmer repeated that he was not informed about the Foreign Office going against the vetting service\u2019s recommendations \u2013 which he calls a \u201cvery serious error of judgement\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"ONEKeir Starmer speaking at PMQ\u2019s in the House of Commons on Wednesday, where frontbench Conservatives waved and mouthed \u2018bye-bye\u2019 at the PM (Photo: House of Commons\/PA)<\/p>\n

Allies of the Prime Minister are looking towards the end of the parliamentary term, expected to be 28 April, when MPs will dissipate to their constituencies to campaign in local elections. But there are hurdles to jump first. On Thursday, Cat Little, Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office, will be questioned by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Next Tuesday, Morgan McSweeney<\/a>, Starmer\u2019s former chief aide, who quit over his role in pushing for Mandelson\u2019s appointment, will also face the same MPs.<\/p>\n

And on Wednesday, there were also Labour calls not to rock the boat. \u201cI think it would be folly when we\u2019ve got what\u2019s happening in terms of geopolitics,\u201d London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan told Bloomberg News when asked whether he thought the Labour Party, of which he is a member, would replace Starmer by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

A No 10 spokesperson said: \u201cNothing will distract the PM from delivering for our country. He is proud of the work being done by his Cabinet, including NHS waiting lists coming down, the biggest upgrade to workers\u2019 rights in a generation, and lifting half a million children out of poverty. That\u2019s the difference a Labour government makes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s own Cabinet ministers have lost confidence in the Prime Minister\u2019s leadership, The i Paper can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5172,9362,94,31,433,5,6,4108],"class_list":{"0":"post-20206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-angela-rayner","9":"tag-cabinet","10":"tag-keir-starmer","11":"tag-labour-party","12":"tag-politics-exclusive","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wes-streeting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116453274371427402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}