A different kind of stasis waits after the polls: a candidate gridlock where all Starmer’s potential successors are problematic in their own way
Westminster politics is currently consumed by the fact that the May elections are next week.
On Tuesday night Labour MPs voted down a Tory proposal that would have seen the prime minister referred to the privileges committee over his handling of the Mandelson scandal. Just 15 Labour MPs – mostly long-term critics of the PM – voted for the Tory motion; 53 did not vote, not all of whom abstained.
Rather than reading this result as a resounding vote of confidence in Keir Starmer, it is instead the case that MPs who may well be sincerely outraged about the most recent iterations of the scandal do not want to go into the week of elections with headlines dominated by internal strife.
There is a reasonable chance that Starmer will face a leadership challenge after the May elections, and few want to add Conservative-proffered fuel to the already well-stoked fire that is internal discontent with Starmer. For those MPs whose areas will have elections next week (and indeed, those who won’t), the business of the day is supporting Labour councillors and candidates, the people who represent the party in local government, and in the longer and more selfish term, form a critical part of any MP’s campaign for re-election.
