The Labour Contenders Who Could Replace a Weakened Starmer

Doubts about Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister has fed months of plots and paranoia within the Labour Party about who, if anyone, might be ready to take his place. A bad set of results in the UK’s local elections would trigger more speculation.

Through costly policy U-turns, abysmal poll numbers and the disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US, Labour insiders have increasingly debated whether a change at the top could reverse the governing party’s fortunes. Starmer has clung to power, surviving a moment of peril in February when Scotland’s Labour leader urged him to quit and vowing to stay on after the latest Mandelson revelations.