Overview
- Downing Street abandoned its trailed income tax rise on Friday in a move colleagues in government viewed as a panicked attempt to protect Keir Starmer’s position, according to the Guardian.
- Labour MPs from multiple factions are now coordinating on potential alternatives, with jostling intensifying ahead of this month’s Budget.
- Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood are most frequently cited by MPs as likely contenders, while an ally says Andy Burnham is minded to return to Parliament, potentially reshaping any contest.
- YouGov data cited by the Guardian shows Starmer on a net favourability of -51 and other senior figures in negative territory, with member polling indicating Streeting would beat Mahmood but lose to Angela Rayner, as Burnham leads head-to-head tests.
- Streeting’s prospective bid faces attacks over donations linked to private healthcare and his expansion of NHS private-sector use reported by critics, even as he courts grassroots opinion with recent left-leaning signals.