Angela Rayner Signals Leadership Readiness Amid Labour Turmoil
Angela Rayner has confidentially informed associates that she is 'ready' to initiate a leadership campaign, as Labour Members of Parliament issued stark warnings that Keir Starmer's premiership is 'hanging by a thread'. The former deputy prime minister, who has discreetly accumulated a £1 million war chest, delivered a significant blow to Sir Keir on Wednesday by spearheading a Labour rebellion against attempts to conceal files related to Peter Mandelson's controversial appointment as US ambassador.
Commons Vote Fallout and Leadership Speculation
Following Wednesday's dramatic Commons vote, Ms Rayner reportedly told an observing MP who suggested the Prime Minister would need to resign: 'I will be ready.' This private declaration has ignited intense speculation about a potential leadership challenge within the Labour Party. Sir Keir issued a comprehensive apology for the Mandelson scandal yesterday but firmly resisted mounting Labour pressure for his resignation.
During an emergency press conference in Hastings, a visibly shaken Prime Minister expressed being 'utterly disgusted' by revelations concerning Mandelson's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and apologised for appointing him as ambassador to Washington DC. Despite escalating Labour anger over the fiasco, Sir Keir insisted he would 'go on'. Downing Street simultaneously rejected calls from Labour MPs to dismiss the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who had advocated for Mandelson's appointment.
Growing Labour Demands for Accountability
Seven Labour MPs explicitly demanded Mr McSweeney's removal, while numerous others called for a broader clearout of Number 10 personnel. Two MPs went further, directly calling for Sir Keir's resignation. Baroness Harman, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party and former leader of the Commons, publicly stated that Sir Keir appeared weak and gullible. She warned on Sky News's Electoral Dysfunction podcast that the scandal would 'finish' him unless he could convincingly reset his leadership.
'He's got to stop blaming Mandelson and saying, 'he lied to me',' Baroness Harman emphasised. 'Because actually he should never have been considering him in the first place. And to say 'he lied to me' makes it look weak and naive and gullible.' The increasing Labour pressure for Mr McSweeney's dismissal is widely interpreted at Westminster as a proxy demand for the Prime Minister's removal.
Polling and Parliamentary Pressure Mount
A YouGov poll revealed that the public wants Sir Keir to resign by a significant margin of 50 to 24 percent. Meanwhile, a powerful committee of MPs cautioned Sir Keir against attempting another cover-up of documents relating to Mandelson. The Prime Minister sparked additional fury by suggesting that security services had failed to properly vet Mandelson. Kemi Badenoch urged Labour MPs to support a vote of no confidence in Sir Keir, declaring he was 'in office but not in power'.
Labour anger reached boiling point on Wednesday when Sir Keir attempted to dilute Conservative demands for ministers to publish all documents surrounding Mandelson's December 2024 appointment. York MP Rachael Maskell stated: 'We need to now move forward as a party to ensure that we can gain that support back. I don't believe we can with the PM in place – it is inevitable that the PM is going to have to step down.'
Internal Criticism and Calls for Ethical Reset
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne suggested Sir Keir should 'reflect on his position', adding: 'The broad opinion of MPs is that with what was already in the public domain, Mandelson should not have been anywhere near that job. The PM has to reflect on the decisions he's made.' Another Liverpool MP, Paula Barker, a former deputy leadership contender, expressed being 'deeply ashamed' of the Government's handling of the scandal and indicated Mr McSweeney faced 'huge questions' about his judgment.
Hull MP Karl Turner told Times Radio the Prime Minister was in a 'crisis situation' and warned that continued reliance on 'advisers who give him shoddy advice' would likely result in the Prime Minister 'having to be making a decision about his future at some point soon'. Stroud MP Simon Opher declared: 'The PM must clear out his advisers, including the chief of staff – otherwise he will lose the confidence of the Parliamentary Labour Party.'
Mandelson Appointment Details and Aftermath
It is understood that when Mandelson was appointed towards the end of 2024, Sir Keir received a two-page document from the Cabinet Office ethics team. Photographic evidence showed the peer celebrating Epstein's birthday with him in his Paris apartment, while a JP Morgan report on Epstein documented their 'particularly close relationship'. Lord Mandelson was ultimately ousted as US ambassador last September following previous revelations about his connections to Epstein.
Sir Keir yesterday maintained he had been 'lied' to by Mandelson during the appointment process. Number 10 admitted this week that the Prime Minister knew the disgraced peer had remained friends with Epstein following the financier's conviction for child sex offences. However, Sir Keir claimed Mandelson had deceived him when questioned about the evidence, portraying Epstein as 'someone he barely knew'. The Prime Minister asserted he had 'no reason' to doubt Mandelson's words, despite substantial evidence already in the public domain.
Sir Keir also issued a belated apology to Epstein's numerous victims, stating: 'I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson's lies and appointed him.' Labour MPs are reportedly encouraging both Ms Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting to launch leadership challenges against Sir Keir, though a spokesperson for Ms Rayner disputed suggestions she is telling friends she is ready to run, adding: 'We do not recognise these claims'.
