EXCLUSIVE: Keir Starmer could be out of a job before the end of the year if MPs aren’t happy with next week’s budget, a Conservative MP told the Daily Expresso.
Sir Keir Starmer is “handing out CVs” during international trips in anticipation of being out of a job by Christmas, Tory MP Esther McVey told the Daily Expresso podcast. Ms McVey said the Prime Minister is dodging the “dark mood” of Labour party members by jetting abroad whenever possible, role-playing a “big man on the world stage” and, perhaps, testing the waters for life after Westminster. “He was in Berlin on Tuesday, he’s off to the G20 on Friday. He’s forever on a private jet,” the Tatton MP said. “He feels happier out there, he’s an internationalist. And he knows he’s getting out [of Number 10] soon – he’s handing out CVs for international jobs, that’s what he’s touting for.”
Discontent among Labour backbenchers about the government’s hard-line immigration policies, broken manifeso pledges and U-turns on welfare, benefits and income tax could come to a head after next week’s Autumn Budget, Ms McVey warned. “It’s open warfare for Labour at the moment,” she said. “There’s a 50% chance that he’ll be out by Christmas if the budget is bad.”
Esther McVey speculated that the Prime Minister could be ousted after next week’s budget (Image: Getty)
Ms McVey pointed to the Prime Minister’s ever-dwindling approval ratings as evidence of the growing vulnerability of his position, with recent YouGov polling putting him at 12%, one percentage point lower than the separate favourability score of 13% for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“If he’s not out after the budget, it will be after the local elections next year,” she said. “We’ve never been in this territory, with a Labour Party so bad before.”
Rachel Reeves, who is expected to announce billions in tax rises next Wednesday, is like “a haunted woman walking the gallows” amid the growing leadership threat, Ms McVey added.
It follows reports that a group of left-leaning MPs are preparing to move against Keir Starmer after meeting the threshold of 80 Parliamentarians required to spark a leadership contest.
They are not yet thought to have decided on a candidate to coalesce around, but names including Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh have been floated as possible contenders.
Days of in-fighting and speculation about the Labour leadership prompted the Prime Minister to urge his Cabinet against “distractions” in a bid to regain control of the narrative this week.
Asked by The Mirror if he would lead Labour into the next general election, he said: “Yes, I will. Let me be really clear – every minute that’s not spent talking about and dealing with the cost of living is a minute wasted of the political work of this Government.
“That’s my response to last week. I remain utterly focused on what matters to me the most, which is bearing down on the cost of living and making people feel better off.”
