31 h. ago POLL OF THE DAY: Would Wes Streeting be a better prime minister than Sir Keir Starmer?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has long been tipped as a future prime minister ever since he led the National Union of Students and he has refused to rule out leadership ambitions.

Politics

33 h. ago Streeting says he and Starmer ‘extremely frustrated’ by leadership row

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was targeted by briefings suggesting he was plotting a coup against Sir Keir Starmer.

Politics

36 h. ago Prime Minister Streeting? The wheels are coming off! SARAH VINE lays bare Labour's 'Traitors plot' against Starmer

Keir Starmer is on a sticky wicket, he's had a terrible year and he's about to have a terrible, terrible budget.

Politics

47 h. ago PM’s chief of staff ‘not involved’ in briefing against ministers – reports

Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls to sack his top adviser, Morgan McSweeney.

Politics

49 h. ago Starmer defies calls to sack chief of staff, claiming briefing didn’t come from No 10

PM is standing by chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, despite calls to sack himKeir Starmer has attempted to draw a line under extraordinary briefings by his allies that No 10 feared Wes Streeting could launch a leadership coup, insisting he had been reassured it “didn’t come from Downing Street”.The prime minister gathered his senior staff to stress that briefings against cabinet ministers were “unacceptable” after apologising to Streeting for what had happened on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago Fury as No 10 signals Starmer is willing to pay billions to Brussels in return for closer EU trade deals

Downing Street has signalled that the Prime Minister is preparing to give in to EU demands for cash payments in return for improved access to the single market.

Economics

50 h. ago Starmer was never meant to be Labour’s prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

50 h. ago Starmer’s backers never meant him to be prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

52 h. ago Starmer can’t afford to sack McSweeney, MPs say as new year coup rumours swirl

The prime minister says he has been ‘assured’ nobody in Downing Street briefed against his health secretary amid claims chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is ‘unsackable’

Politics

54 h. ago Starmer backs chief of staff after assurances briefing did not come from No 10

The Prime Minister said he would ‘absolutely deal with anybody responsible for briefing against ministers’.

Politics

55 h. ago Keir Starmer faces another 'sleaze' row as Tories demand urgent probe into 'lobbying' links of PM's communications chief

There are demands for an investigation into Tim Allan, who joined the Prime Minister's team in Downing Street in September, and his ties to Strand Partners.

Politics

59 h. ago PM prepared to ‘get rid’ of those responsible for briefing war, Miliband signals

Ed Miliband suggested that Sir Keir would sack anyone found to be responsible for the briefings, as the PM faces pressure to overhaul his No 10.

Events

66 h. ago ANDREW PIERCE on Wes Streeting, the PM's ambitious rival whose mother was born in jail... and whose gran shared a prison cell with Christine Keeler

Should Wes Streeting become Prime Minister he will have the most compelling back story since it was revealed that John Major was the son of a circus performer and music hall artiste.

Events

67 h. ago Starmer investigates briefing war as pressure on chief of staff grows

The Prime Minister was forced to condemn briefings against his Cabinet after reports about a possible Wes Streeting coup.

Events

69 h. ago Starmer apologises to Streeting for briefing war and launches probe into source

The Prime Minister was forced to condemn briefings against his Cabinet after reports about a possible Wes Streeting coup.

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour leadership speculation: a symptom of failure to define a governing purpose | Editorial

Downing Street briefings to flush out potential rivals have needlessly damaged the prime minister and raised the stakes around the budgetIt is extraordinary that Labour MPs are contemplating replacing their leader within 18 months of winning a landslide general election victory, a moment supposed to inaugurate years of stability and renewal. It is downright bizarre that the origin of a sudden surge in speculation about Sir Keir Starmer’s future is briefings by loyalists based in Downing Street.The prime minister’s allies must have imagined they were serving his interests by flushing potential rivals – Wes Streeting, the health secretary, being the most prominent – out of the shadows. Forcing someone’s hand before it is ready to strike is a familiar move in the playbook of factional politics.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please cli...

Politics

3 d. ago FTSE 100 hits new high on electricity generator SSE spark and gold gains

The FTSE 100 index closed up 11.82 points, or 0.1%, at 9,911.42, a record closing peak.

Events

3 d. ago Streeting row focuses attention on ‘toxic’ No 10 and Starmer’s leadership

Sir Keir Starmer was forced to condemn briefing against his Cabinet after reports about a possible Wes Streeting coup.

Politics

3 d. ago Streeting hits out at ‘juvenile’ No 10 claims he wants to replace Starmer as Labour leader: Latest

The Prime minister has condemned briefings against health secretary by senior Downing Street aides overnight

Politics

3 d. ago 'I'm not going to add to silly season down south', says Wes Streeting as he appears in Manchester

The Health Secretary was asked about his stated “desire” to be Prime Minister one day amid a Downing Street briefing war

Politics