Starmer Leads Cabinet Session As Increasing Pressure Following Departure of Senior Adviser

Good morning. The Prime Minister is leading a cabinet session this today after losing his deputy prime minister, his ambassador to the US, and his top strategist in less than a 14 days.

The Commons begins a month-long recess this evening, which brings some respite. With lawmakers away from Parliament, they are unlikely to participate in rebel activity.

But before they head off, lawmakers will spend several hours in a discussion on a former minister, which is expected to focus on whether the Prime Minister was correct to select him in the first place and whether he has been completely honest about what he was aware of regarding communications to Jeffrey Epstein when he defended the ambassador recently.

And there is more bad news for Starmer this today. A survey of party supporters shows:

• Just one quarter of them feel Labour is heading in the correct path.
• Only about a quarter of them have a favourable opinion of the leader, against nearly six in ten who view him unfavourably.
• A former minister, who was dismissed by Starmer as leader of the Commons, has a clear lead over Bridget Phillipson, in the race to be deputy leader. She is viewed as the loyalist candidate, while her opponent is seen as the option for members who want to express some disagreement.

Surveys are potentially fallible, party membership polling are particularly difficult, and in some respects the views of party members are fairly irrelevant at the moment.

Likelihood of a leadership challenge anytime soon still look minimal, and even if Powell were to win the number two position, the post holds almost no official authority within Labour.

Nevertheless, the polling doesn’t look good.

The Day’s Agenda

• Morning: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
• Today: He meets relatives of people who died at Hillsborough to mark the publication of the public office accountability bill.
• Later: A senior figure is on a visit in London.
• Late morning: David Lammy takes questions in the Commons.
• 11.55am: Sarah Jones gives a speech to the Police Superintendents’ Association.
• Midday: The government holds a press conference.
• Afternoon: The health secretary visits the emergency services.
• After 12.30pm: Lawmakers begin a three-hour emergency debate on the appointment process and events leading to the dismissal of the former UK ambassador to the United States.

Polling results is fallible, especially when surveying a small group such as party members.

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