Badenoch Launches Scathing Attack on Starmer Over Controversial Appointments
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, accusing him of "stuffing Government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists" during a heated Prime Minister's Questions session. The confrontation comes amid simmering discontent following the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal, with Badenoch suggesting Starmer only pretends to care about violence against women to "save his own skin."
Pressure Mounts on Starmer's Leadership
The Prime Minister has faced significant pressure to step down, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar becoming the most prominent Labour figure to publicly call for his resignation. However, the lack of support for Sarwar's position from Westminster ministers suggests the immediate danger to Starmer's leadership may have passed. Despite the political "turmoil," Starmer has pledged to lead the Labour Party into the next general election.
During Wednesday's session, Starmer was greeted by loud cheers from his Labour backbenchers when he approached the despatch box, though his authority continues to appear fragile. The Prime Minister has insisted his top team remains "strong and united" after Cabinet ministers rallied around him with public messages of support.
Matthew Doyle Peerage Controversy
Badenoch claimed Starmer's decision regarding Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador was not an "isolated" incident, questioning why former communications director Matthew Doyle received a peerage despite his ties to a paedophile councillor. "The Mandelson episode was not an isolated incident," Badenoch stated. "A few weeks ago he announced a peerage for one Matthew Doyle, his former director of communications."
She continued: "Immediately after that, the Sunday Times published on the front page that Doyle campaigned for a man charged with child sex offences, yet despite the Prime Minister knowing this, he gave Doyle a job for life in the House of Lords anyway. Why?"
In response, Starmer revealed: "Matthew Doyle did not give a full account of his actions. I promised my party and my country there will be change, and yesterday I removed the whip from Matthew Doyle." Lord Doyle has indeed had the Labour whip removed, though calls for him to lose his peerage altogether continue, including from Labour Party chair Anna Turley.
Cross-Party Criticism Intensifies
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey joined the criticism, stating: "To appoint one paedophile supporter cannot be excused as 'misfortune'. To appoint two shows a catastrophic lack of judgment." SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn added that Starmer "appears to be the most gullible former director of public prosecutions in history."
Badenoch further accused Starmer of establishing a pattern of behavior, saying: "The Prime Minister sometimes likes to claim, as he just did, that he cares about violence against women. The truth is, he only cares about the victims when he's trying to save his own skin. They can shake their heads. We saw it with grooming gangs, we saw it with Mandelson, and now we see it with Doyle. Isn't that what a former prosecutor would call an established pattern of behaviour?"
Starmer's Defense and Counterattack
Starmer defended his position by stating he would take "no lectures from the Tories" on standards in public life, pointing to the partygate scandal and former shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick's comments "about not seeing enough white faces in Birmingham."
Badenoch hit back forcefully: "How dare he criticise us. We weren't the ones stuffing Government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists. He can't build a team, he has no plan, he can't even run his own office let alone the country. He is now dealing with a new scandal of appointing someone who campaigned for a man convicted of having indecent pictures of girls as young as 10, isn't the Prime Minister ashamed that that would be his legacy?"
The Prime Minister replied simply: "My legacy is changing my party and winning a general election."
Internal Labour Dynamics and Support
Following PMQs, Starmer addressed a meeting of the women's Parliamentary Labour Party. Downing Street rejected suggestions it had been run as a "boys' club," and the Prime Minister's spokesman said he did not accept that he had failed to fulfil his promise to end sleaze.
At Tuesday's political Cabinet meeting, Starmer said his Government should be "acting together" over the release of files on Peter Mandelson after Wes Streeting published his exchanges with the former ambassador. He expressed his "100%" support for Anas Sarwar, who had cited concern that the "distraction" from Downing Street would harm Labour's chances of unseating the SNP in May's Holyrood elections.
In Wales, Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan insisted Starmer had her "full confidence," while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, seen as a potential challenger for the Labour leadership, declared his support but said he had spoken to Starmer about the party needing a "strong sense of a stronger team again."
Downing Street Shake-Up Continues
Starmer is expected to continue efforts to shake up his No 10 operation, with the country's top civil servant Sir Chris Wormald rumoured to be on his way out in the coming days. His chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allan have already departed as the Prime Minister seeks to revive his fortunes after a bruising start to 2026.
Matthew Doyle has apologized for campaigning for Sean Morton in 2017 after Morton had been charged over indecent images of children. The controversy continues to cast a shadow over Starmer's administration as he attempts to navigate through one of the most challenging periods of his premiership.
