"Catherine West, the former Foreign Office minister who briefly threatened to launch a stalking horse candidacy, spoke for many MPs still reeling from the local elections results when she dared cabinet ministers and others to formally challenge Starmer. The MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet was prompted to go public after a furious WhatsApp exchange with the housing secretary, Steve Reed. Others including Paulette Hamilton, the MP for Erdington, Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn), Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) and Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) blamed the fact that constituents have lost confidence in Starmer."
"A former supporter of Starmer said: He clearly did not feel the pain of the local elections results and that came across in his speech. The lack of empathy. He did not come from the political grassroots and it shows. If he doesn't have the empathy there will continue to be a trickle of fed-up MPs. Some Labour MPs believe many of their colleagues have been biding their time to express how they truly felt about Starmer's reshuffle before conference last year in the wake of Angela Rayner's resignation from government."
"Talented people were sacked, and Starmer made them feel as though they were the problem when it's always been about his lack of vision, a publicly loyal senior figure said. West was sacked as the minister for the Indo-Pacific in last September's reshuffle. Justin Madders, the former employment minister, is a member of the Tribune group, who support Andy Burnham or will back another soft-left candidate if Burnham cannot get into Westminster in time. Catherine McKinnell, the former Send minister, also sacked in the reshuffle, is known as an ally of Wes Streeting."
"There are some in the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) who thought as early as Monday that Streeting was orchestrating a coordinated move against Starmer. A number of his allies including Chris Curtis (MP for Milton Keynes North), Jas Athwal (Ilford South) and Joe Morris (Hexham) use"
Catherine West, a former Foreign Office minister, urged cabinet ministers and others to formally challenge Keir Starmer after MPs reacted strongly to local election results. West’s comments followed a heated WhatsApp exchange with housing secretary Steve Reed. Other MPs attributed their constituents’ loss of confidence in Starmer to his lack of empathy and distance from grassroots politics. Some Labour MPs said colleagues had been waiting to express dissatisfaction after Starmer’s reshuffle following Angela Rayner’s resignation, claiming talented people were removed and blamed. West had been sacked as minister for the Indo-Pacific in September’s reshuffle. Additional Labour figures and groups were described as positioning for leadership alternatives, including support for Andy Burnham or other soft-left candidates, while some suspected Wes Streeting of coordinating moves against Starmer.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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