The Labour Leadership Struggle

Caitlyn Woodbury

caitlyn.gabsbitesizeblogs@gmail.com

What on Earth is going on in the House of Commons?

The local elections earlier this month saw a disastrous loss for the Labour party, with them losing over 1,000 seats, many of them being in Labour key areas. The party took this to mean one thing, the country has lost faith in Keir Starmer and is turning to other parties such as Reform UK or the Green Party. As days followed, the public were wondering what would happen next - would the Prime Minister resign, or would he be pushed out by his cabinet?

Well, for a week nothing happened. The Prime Minister gave a speech to the public, saying that he would not back down (however every politician that later resigned has given this speech). There was talk from MP Catherine West that Starmer should set a timetable for his resignation or she would trigger a leadership campaign. However, she later stood down. If there were to be a leadership contest, the top contenders seemed to be ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband (who is also an ex-labour leader) and the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.

Things finally started looking like they were going somewhere when Wes Streeting resigned from his cabinet position of Health Secretary, one week after the election. He sent a two page letter to the Prime Minister, stating that "where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift".

Later that day, it was announced that the MP for Makerfield in Greater Manchester would resign. This was so that Andy Burnham could run to be an MP again in a by-election on 18th June. It was later confirmed that Burnham would put himself forward, and he was announced as the Labour candidate on 19th May.

But what does this all mean? Well, it is assumed that no leadership challenged ensued due to Wes Streeting not having the minimum 81 MPs backing him. A poll found that Streeting was the only top contender that was not thought to be able to beat Starmer in a leadership challenge. To run in a leadership contest, you must be an MP, which is why Burnham is running (the irony is that Starmer is helping Burnham). Although currently being held by Labour, Reform are making high gains in the Makerfield constituency, making this a risky and important election.

So once again we are in a waiting game. What is likely to happen, if Burnham wins, is a leadership contest will occur. Possibly, we will have a new Prime Minister by the end of the year. Many feel as though we have gone through too many leaders in the past 16 years; David Cameron was the last Prime Minister to complete a full term. However, others argue that the slight instability is important to keep those in power in check. Whether you believe this to be for the best is up to you. We will know more in the next month.

If you have any queries please do feel free to email me :)