Steerpike

With a week to go before voters take to the polls, the race for victory is heating up. But it is not merely the familiar scramble over potholes, bin collections and municipal leisure centres that is exercising Westminster. The other contest – the one to replace Sir Keir Starmer – is acquiring a momentum of its own ahead of what’s set to be an electoral bloodbath on 7 May.  Aides and supporters of both Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have been busy doing the rounds, sounding out opinion and swelling their supporter lists among MPs and party members. Yet while the two Mancunian contenders have been busily offering their wares to anyone within range of a lobby journalist, Wes Streeting has adopted a rather more minimalist approach.

It has been a pretty grim day in Golders Green. Two Jewish men have been stabbed, with the Metropolitan Police formally declaring it a terrorist incident. Both the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council have said they are 'sickened'; Sir Ephraim Mervis, the Chief Raabi, warns that ‘today’s event proves that if you are visibly Jewish you’re not safe, and far more needs to be done.’  Figures from the Community Security Trust, which works to tackle antisemitism, suggests that such incidents have spiked since 2023: attacks have become uncommon for some members of the Jewish community.

Oh dear. Just when you thought a British ambassador to the US couldn’t possibly cause any more grief for Sir Keir Starmer, enter Christian Turner. Peter Mandelson set a high bar for humiliating Labour ministers, but the career diplomat – who took up post in February – has given the Dark Lord a run for his money. Somewhere in King Charles Street, Karen Pierce is having the last laugh… The latest kerfuffle centres on a leaked recording of Turner dispensing pearls of wisdom to a group of British students on a jolly to DC, in the same month that he took up residence.

It’s that time of year again. Spring is sprung and that means another bad set of local elections for an unpopular incumbent government. Cue much gnashing of teeth, plenty of wringing of hands and an endless stream of policy announcements from Labour caucuses fearing the future of their party. One particularly noticeable faction is the 100-strong ‘soft left’ Tribune group, whose members include former ministers Louise Haigh, Vicky Foxcroft and Justin Madders. Respected backbenchers whom an embattled PM might want to keep onside... Steerpike has heard that Tribune will shortly be launching a pamphlet of policy essays in the aftermath of 7 May, in the latest headache for Sir Keir Starmer.

Up until now, the subject of the Prime Minister's political survival has been an awkward question for any Labour MP. Privately, many concede that he is 'done'; publicly their proclaim their faith in a man who is stretching their patience to breaking point. The number who have called on him to go can be counted on one hand, with Clive Lewis – the longtime troublemaker of Norwich – being the most obvious example. But now the first of the record 2024 Labour intake has suggested Starmer's exit is simply a matter of time. Jonathan Brash, the MP for Hartlepool – that battleground of Brexit aspirations – went on GB News this lunchtime and was clearly furious with Starmer's performance at Prime Minister's Questions.

Oh dear. It seems that Keir Starmer's strategy has, er, backfired once again. Having spent yesterday afternoon declaring to all and sundry that he was shocked, SHOCKED to discover that Peter Mandelson might have been a wrong 'un, it was left to Olly Robbins this morning to deliver his response. With the calm demeanour of a man who has spent a lifetime in the corridors of power, Sir Olly duly filleted the Prime Minister for two hours. In the battle of wits, only one man came unarmed... There were plenty of enjoyable moments for Mr S to chew over. He revealed that the Cabinet Office – the supposed brain of Whitehall – had not ever been keen on vetting Mandelson.

Keir Starmer has not being having a good time of it in the Commons. Once again, the PM has been dragged in front of the House to explain why on earth he appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador – despite his well-publicised relationship with the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. This time, the questions have been over Mandelson’s security clearance and why he was still appointed ambassador after failing his vetting. The PM has blamed civil servants for keeping him in the dark, and has sacked Foreign Office permanent secretary Sir Olly Robbins, who will give his side of the story tomorrow. Still, Starmer’s explanations for Mandelson’s failed vetting has been met with scepticism in some parts.

Spin, spin, spin! That furious sound you can hear out of Westminster is Labour's apparatchiks doing their damnedest to dig Keir Starmer out of yet another hole. The Prime Minister is accused of misleading parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Our Man in Washington. The Labour grandee failed his developed vetting clearance in late 2024 to become the US ambassador – but the decision was then overruled by the Foreign Office to ensure he could take up his post. Downing Street are briefing that Starmer was only made aware of this fact on Tuesday night this week. But there are three claims that Mr S would like to see the PM justify in the coming days.

Whooooo remembers John Bercow? It has been sometime since the disgraced former Speaker attracted Steerpike's attention. Having been banished unceremoniously from The Traitors two years ago, Mr S's chief preoccupation with Bercow was whether or not he remains a member of the Labour party, having been suspended some four years ago. But the onetime Monday Club devotee is back in the headlines, as part of his never-ending quest for the spotlight. It seems that Bercow, having done his damnedest to thwart Britain's parliamentary democracy, is now turning his attention to politics overseas. A quick Google of his name reveals that the pint-sized parliamentarian has rebranded himself as an expert on Iranian matters.