Labour plot to oust Starmer has twelve-month deadline

Insiders will test the waters in May 2026 before deciding on a bid to replace the prime minister, reports David Maddox

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On Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer took everyone by surprise when he suddenly announced a U-turn on Labour’s controversial winter fuel payment cuts.

The response to what appeared to be a planted question from a loyal backbencher during Prime Minister’s Questions certainly wrong-footed Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and meant that Labour MPs left the chamber with smiles on their faces.

But the shock move came as Sir Keir was having to act to shore up power with MPs, senior party figures and trade unionists who have been openly plotting to remove him.

After a turbulent 10 months, the prime minister’s migration announcement earlier this month, where he laid out plans to clamp down on the number of people coming into the UK, was seen as a “watershed moment” for the party – not least because it had echoes of the late right-wing Tory MP Enoch Powell’s infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech.

Now, a large number of MPs from the so-called “soft left” of the party are organising to try to force a change of direction, with allies of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner urging her to organise a leadership contest.

The growing rebellion comes as around 150 Labour MPs are considering standing against Sir Keir’s plans for welfare cuts amid growing concerns that, on the domestic agenda, his government is going in “the wrong direction”.

But in an apparent attempt to undermine Ms Rayner before any challenge begins, the deputy prime minister has in the last week been subject to a “poisonous briefing campaign” from rivals in government, with a leaked memo about apparent tax rise plans, along with stories that she could be demoted.

Meanwhile, there is now fevered speculation about a reshuffle – with chancellor Rachel Reeves’s job on the line – to allow the prime minister to have a complete reset.