Keir Starmer is facing growing questions over his leadership of the Labour party and the country after a disastrous fortnight.
In the last two weeks his deputy prime minister had to resign after she admitted she had not paid enough tax, his ambassador to Washington was sacked in a row over his links to notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his long-planned government ‘reset’ appears to have fallen flat.
The PM is now facing increasing demands to explain what he knew and when over Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein – and defend his decision to appoint the Labour grandee, forced to resign from government twice already.
Some Labour MPs believe a major change is needed in their government including, potentially, a change of leader.
A new campaigning group within the party, Mainstream, was launched by Andy Burnham this week and could become a vehicle for precisely that new direction.
What is Mainstream?
The group says it is the home for Labour’s “radical realists” and is “serious about winning a democratic socialist future”.
It has used polling carried out by Survation on behalf of another Labour group, Compass, as its springboard.
That poll in August showed overwhelming support among Labour members for the party to have a more radical offer on issues including economy and child poverty, among other issues.
“We believe the voices of these radical realists, the vast majority of the Labour Party, must be heard and heeded,” a statement from the party read.
What has Mainstream said since its launch?
A lot. Earlier this week it released a very punchy quote about the Lord Mandelson affair, which accused Starmer of running a ‘narrow and brittle’ political project and putting party factionalism over country – which did little to dampen speculation about future leadership bids.
At the time Luke Hurst, Mainstream’s national coordinator, was quoted as saying: “Peter Mandelson’s inevitable sacking is what happens when you put your party faction’s interest before your party and before the country.
“If Starmer keeps running a narrow and brittle political project it will break him and could break the Labour Party. We need a government and party of all the talents and all the views.”
Could Burnham use it to help launch a leadership bid?
In a word – yes. It is already being seen by many Labour MPs as key plank of a possible move by Mr Burnham, dubbed by some within Labour “the King in the North”.
The new network is viewed as a vehicle that could be swiftly changed into a leadership operation if one was needed.
Previous groups like Momentum and Labour Together were seen as helping Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer win the leadership respectively.
One Labour MP told the Independent: “I think the leadership is in a death spiral. All the talk, all the ‘missions’, all it came down to was growth- and that is stalling.
“I don’t agree with every Andy Burnham says. But if it comes down to it, if Reform do well at the next election and we have to work with other parties like the Lib Dems and the Greens? The current leadership can’t do that, not with a lot of their hardline stances. But Andy Burnham can at least work with other parties”.
What about the fact that he is not even an MP at the moment?
Mr Burnham was an MP, and a minister under the last Labour government, but he left Parliament years ago to become the mayor of Greater Manchester.
Many MPs believe a return to Westminster will be straightforward – if he is not blocked by the leadership.
The talk of the MPs tearoom is that a local MP with health issues will stand down, allowing Mr Burnham to charge back to London by winning a by-election.
There is also speculation among some MPs that Lucy Powell, another Manchester MP, who he had back in the deputy leadership race, could swap try to jobs with Mr Burnham and seek to replace him as mayor.
There is dispute about the timing, however, with some believing the best time is before May – when Labour is expected to get hammered in a series of elections, including in Scotland and Wales.
Other argue he should hold off until then, which could offer some much-needed respite for the embattled Sir Keir.
