{"id":50658,"date":"2025-09-08T10:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50658\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:38:10","slug":"labours-king-of-the-north-highlights-growing-problem-facing-keir-starmer-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50658\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour\u2019s \u2018King of the North\u2019 highlights growing problem facing Keir Starmer \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain\u2019s prime minister and Labour Party<\/a> leader, Keir Starmer<\/a>, was born in Surrey and represents a London constituency. He is a man of the south. <\/p>\n

After the past week of turmoil, he looks to have a growing problem in the north. There may be perilous times ahead for the prime minister.<\/p>\n

Last week was a disaster for Starmer as his deputy prime minister and Labour\u2019s deputy leader, the formidable northerner Angela Rayner<\/a>, quit after it emerged she inadvertently underpaid stamp duty on a flat. While Reform UK\u2019s Nigel Farage<\/a> postured as prime minister-in-waiting, the latest bout of Labour turmoil forced Starmer into a wide-ranging reshuffle of his cabinet and junior ministers.<\/p>\n

Only last Monday, he had announced \u201cphase two\u201d of his 14-month-old government. It lasted less than five days. What is in store in phase three?<\/p>\n

Starmer has rejigged his government to counter the threat from the anti-immigration outfit Reform, which polls suggest might trounce Labour in a general election if it was tomorrow. <\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t due until 2029. Much can happen in four years.<\/p>\n

Moving Shabana Mahmood to the job of home secretary signals a clampdown on migration in a fightback against Reform. She is associated with the \u201cblue Labour\u201d, the party\u2019s socially conservative wing. It is culturally closer to the profile of some Reform supporters, albeit Mahmood is a Muslim.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0David Lammy appointed Britain\u2019s deputy prime minister following Angela Rayner resignationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The UK government has also signalled it will move asylum seekers to military sites, away from hotels that were the scene of a summer of right-wing protests<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Yet, immigration isn\u2019t Labour\u2019s only challenge. The budget on November 26th will further stretch Britain\u2019s ailing national finances. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mahmood has also been touted as a potential replacement for Rayner as Labour deputy leader. That might please Starmer\u2019s team, which fears a divisive tussle for the position with the party\u2019s restive left wing. Ultimately, the contest will be decided by a vote of party members.<\/p>\n

\"Newly-appointedNewly-appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives in Downing Street, London, where prime minister Keir Starmer is reshuffling his cabinet. Photograph: Jonathan Brady\/ PA Wire <\/p>\n

But what of Starmer\u2019s own position? Labour doesn\u2019t have the same history of regicide as the Tories. But such has been the upheaval in Labour\u2019s short stint in government, there is a palpable sense of unease on its backbenches. This is where Starmer\u2019s northern problem comes in.<\/p>\n

In speculation about who might rival him as Labour leader if he were put under pressure, attention often rests on Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham<\/a>. The former MP and self-styled \u201cKing of the North\u201d has clashed with Starmer in the past, although he has avoided open conflict since Labour entered government.<\/p>\n

But trouble may be brewing anyway. Burnham appeared on BBC News on Sunday morning to criticise Starmer\u2019s party management. He warned him to listen more to his backbenchers. He name-checked a northern MP, Rachael Maskell (York Central), who lost the whip in the welfare rebellion, as one treated harshly.<\/p>\n

When Burnham was asked by BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg who might make a good Labour deputy leader, he named another northerner, Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh, whom Starmer sacked last November. The body count of Labour MPs turfed out in the reshuffle is also dominated by northerners, many in Burnham\u2019s Manchester sphere of influence.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Is Britain headed for prime minister Nigel Farage?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg to criticise Starmer\u2019s party management. Photograph: Adam Vaughan\/ EPA <\/p>\n

Apart from Rayner, who quit, Lucy Powell (Manchester North) was sacked as leader of the house. Jim McMahon (Oldham West) was evicted from the housing department. Wajid Khan, a peer from Burnley, was sacked as faith minister.<\/p>\n

Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port) was let go from employment rights. Mike Kane (Wythenshawe and Sale East in Manchester) tweeted goodbye to his role as aviation minister. Maria Eagle (Liverpool Garston) was sacked from the ministry of defence.<\/p>\n

Starmer\u2019s team might not agree, but the reshuffle had all the appearance of a purge of northerners. <\/p>\n

The Labour Party conference in Liverpool this month will be interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s prime minister and Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, was born in Surrey and represents a London constituency.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[37363,31200,9,10,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-50658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-angela-rayner","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-breakingnews","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}