I would consider rejoining Labour if Burnham was leader

Once a Labour rising star, Rosie Duffield quit in 2024 citing 'sleaze, nepotism and avarice'. She says the PM could be gone this month, and the net should be cast wide for his replacement

- By David Williamson

ROSIE DUFFIELD will not be surprised if there is a newsflash in the coming weeks announcing that Sir Keir Starmer’s time as Prime Minister has come to an end.

Once a Labour rising star who turned the traditionally true blue seat of Canterbury red for the first time in 2017, she is now a scathing critic of the PM.

The 54-year-old says no one she knows thinks Sir Keir will lead the party into the next election, and she suggests his exit could be imminent.

“There are rumours it could be as early as the end of January,” she says. “We know that people are making moves, whether they deny it on television or not.”

She quit the Labour group of MPs in September 2024, blasting the “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” at the heart of a party hit by so-called freebie-gate, the torrent of tales about top figures getting free clothes and tickets to the likes of Taylor Swift.

Her unhappiness in the Labour Party was no secret. She was among its highest profile champions of single-sex spaces and rights based on biological sex.

After criticising Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill in 2023, she said the response from MPs reminded her of being in an abusive relationship. She described suffering “low-level trauma” at her “political isolation”.

Ms Duffield once chaired the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party but the gender controversies led to a situation where, she says, “people that I considered friends were frightened to be seen talking to me”.

She remains deeply disappointed at Sir Keir’s leadership at this time.

“He was perfectly happy to see me being bullied from within the party,” she alleges, adding he “has never stepped up to help, support or defend me or even speak to me about it”.

Would she like to sit down and talk to him about her treatment?

“Not now,” she says. “He’ll be a backbencher very soon.”

Has the PM ever offered to apologise?