Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure from Labour rivals after a catastrophic 16 months as Prime Minister
Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer would lose a leadership contest to Angela Rayner, polling of Labour members has revealed. More than half of party members surveyed would vote for Ms Rayner as leader if they went head to head.
Only one in three would back Sir Keir. The former deputy leader topped the poll on 52% with the Prime Minister languishing on 33%. The poll also shows that three other potential rivals – Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband and Wes Streeting – would beat Sir Keir in a head-to-head contest.
Ms Rayner quit her position as deputy prime minister and housing secretary in September after she was exposed for underpaying stamp duty on her second home.
She is understood to be “getting her ducks in a row” for a leadership bid, as pressure mounts on Sir Keir.
More than half of members, 52%, want a new Labour leader in place before the next election, the Survation poll for LabourList found.
The survey also shows that 41% of members who backed Sir Keir in the 2020 leadership want a new leader while 40% would prefer him to stay.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Ms Rayner had joined Tribune, a recently revived soft-Left group of Labour MPs that could be used as a vehicle for a leadership candidate.
The number of MPs needed to mount a candidate for a leadership contest against Sir Keir is 80, a threshold that, according to some insiders, has been reached.
Mr Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor who has been repeatedly tipped for leadership, would win a head-to-head contest with the PM by 26 points, the poll, reported by the Telegraph, found.
Ed Miliband (Image: Getty)
On Wednesday, Clive Lewis MP said he would be willing to give up his Norwich South seat to allow Mr Burnham to stand in a by-election, which would open the door to a leadership challenge.
Mr Burnham has refused to rule out taking on Sir Keir. He told BBC Breakfast this week: “I am not going to sit here this morning and rule out what might or might not happen because I don’t know what the future will hold.”
Sir Keir dismissed the rumours on Friday, telling reporters Mr Burnham was “doing a really good job as the Mayor of Manchester”.
The Health Secretary has also been accused of preparing the groundwork for a leadership bid.
The polling found that Mr Streeting would only narrowly win a leadership contest against the PM, receiving 33% of the polled Labour members’ votes, against 31% who would back Sir Keir.
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, would win by 44% against 40%.
