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Troubled Starmer 'reeks of defeat' after Mandelson fiasco
The Observer
|September 14, 2025
Pressure mounts on the prime minister as Epstein scandal reaches the doors of No 10
Keir Starmer's grip on his premiership is under stress, with Labour MPs increasingly speculating about leadership challenges and calling for his chief of staff to be removed.
An already fractious party, with MPs furious about everything from the handling of Gaza and the welfare rebellion to the departure of Angela Rayner and subsequent reshuffle, came to boiling point last week over Starmer's handling of the scandal surrounding Peter Mandelson.
Starmer and his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, are being dogged by questions about when the prime minister learned the details of a cache of emails published by Bloomberg, in which Lord Mandelson expressed support for the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This story is from the September 14, 2025 edition of The Observer.
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