Exclusive: Cabinet Minister Warns Plotting Labour MPs To Back Keir Starmer
A cabinet minister has warned Labour MPs voters “will never forgive” the party if they descend into in-fighting rather than backing Keir Starmer.
In an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, housing secretary Steve Reed said the country had backed Labour at the general election because they were sick of the “instability and chaos” of the last Tory government.
And in a clear message to cabinet colleagues with their eye on the prime minister’s job, Reed said everyone in the government must now “focus” tackling the cost of living, improving the NHS and ending illegal immigration.
His comments come amid mounting speculation that Starmer will face a leadership challenge in 2026 and Labour’s poll ratings plunge along with the PM’s popularity with the public.
Downing Street sourced accused health secretary Wes Streeting of plotting against the prime minister, while the likes of Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham are also known to have their eyes on the top job.
But Reed said: “We cannot be like the Tories. It wasn’t just that they were doing the wrong things for 14 years, they kept chopping and changing from one thing to another and there was absolutely no stability in the country.
“When the British people last year voted for change, they wanted to get away from that kind of instability and chaos.
“This government is laying the foundations of that change. It hasn’t been easy and the change hasn’t been as visible as many voters would like and I understand that and I share their impatience, but we have to see this change through”
He added: “We have to stay the course when it comes to immigration, the National Health Service, the cost of living, growing the economy so we can put more money in people’s pockets.
“The British people will never forgive us if we fall inwards on each other rather than focusing on the crisis that is facing them out there on the streets.
“Under the previous government, we started to sink into decline and division and a lot of people believe that we can’t get out of that doom loop now. But we can.
“This country has always achieved incredible things – looks at what we did after the Second World War, look at what we did when we built the National Health Service.
“This is a country of incredible talent and ambition, but it needs a government that is focused on making sure that potential can be realised and that’s what I spend by waking hours doing and it’s what my colleagues will do as well.”