Overview
- BBC reporting says Labour figures could try to remove Keir Starmer about two weeks after Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the 26 November budget, which may include unpopular tax rises.
- Bloomberg reports that Starmer’s allies suspect Health Secretary Wes Streeting of preparing a coup, a claim Streeting rejected on Sky News as not true while stating he will not call for Starmer’s resignation.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Wes Streeting are named by BBC sources as possible contenders if a leadership contest is triggered.
- Starmer’s camp signals he will fight any attempt to oust him, with one unnamed minister arguing it would be reckless to move against a leader who won the election 17 months ago.
- Recent polling from Ipsos and other firms shows unusually low approval for Starmer, and any leadership change would be settled by an internal Labour vote rather than an automatic general election.