Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the “vast majority” of Labour MPs support him, despite the scandal over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador that has rocked his premiership.
The prime minister faces existential questions about his future in power, but he said he still believes he can win the next election, arguing that most people in the Parliamentary Labour Party are “supportive, loyal and just want to get on with the job”.
Sir Keir has faced calls to resign amid the fallout from the vetting saga, which saw Lord Mandelson take up the role despite security services raising concerns, and Cabinet divisions are said to have emerged over his handling of the process, including his decision to sack Foreign Office chief, Sir Olly Robbins.
Meanwhile, Labour MPs are said to be feeling increasingly frustrated by the chaos in government, with many looking to Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner as possible successors to Sir Keir if the local election results are as brutal for the government as expected.
But, speaking to The Times about questions over his future, the prime minister said: “In politics, you get this sort of thing all of the time.
“There is always talk. What you never hear from are all the people who are supportive, loyal and just want to get on with the job. And that is the vast majority of people in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
“They’re pleased to be in power. They’ve waited a long time to be in power. And they just want to get on with their job. They don’t make a lot of noise about it. They don’t talk to journalists about it. It’s really important that is reflected in these debates.”
It comes despite polling of Labour members showing that the overwhelming majority think Sir Keir has handled the Mandelson affair badly.
However, around two-thirds (61 per cent) think he should not resign over the scandal, while 29 per cent said he should, the Survation poll for Labour List showed.
They were split on whether Labour should change its leadership, with 46 per cent in favour and 44 per cent saying Sir Keir should remain in post.
In the same interview, the prime minister insisted he thinks he can win the next election, adding: “I think it’s going to be a very important general election. It’s likely to be Labour versus Reform. An election where the defining question is ‘what is it to be British?’ An election where what I would call patriotic values of tolerance, decency, live and let live, diversity, are under challenge like we’ve never seen before.”
His latest intervention comes after he was accused of breaking the ministerial code by reportedly failing to declare a meeting with a client of Lord Mandelson’s lobbying firm.
According to The Telegraph, the prime minister and Lord Mandelson attended the tech firm Palantir’s headquarters in Washington in February 2025.
They reported that the meeting was not logged, despite ministers being required to publish details of meetings with external organisations as part of the ministerial code.
Downing Street told the newspaper that the event was not a meeting, so it did not need to be recorded. But the Ministry of Defence, which also reportedly attended, described it as a meeting.
Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, accused Sir Keir of breaking the ministerial code, which is widely seen as a resignation offence.
He added: “The public deserves to know who arranged this meeting, what was discussed, and what Global Counsel’s client stood to gain.”
Next week, the PM is likely to face a Commons vote that could spark an inquiry into his handling of the vetting saga.
The prime minister has repeatedly told MPs that he and his ministers only found out that UKSV had advised that Lord Mandelson should be denied clearance for the role last Tuesday evening, despite The Independent raising concerns that he had failed vetting last September and running a front page story on it.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle looks set to give MPs a say on whether the prime minister is referred to the powerful Commons Privileges Committee for a probe into whether he misled parliament over the disgraced peer’s appointment.
Sir Lindsay is widely expected to make a statement on the letters on Monday, meaning Sir Keir could face a vote in the Commons on Tuesday – the same day his former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, will be grilled by MPs on his role in Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
But Cabinet minister Darren Jones insisted there is “no case to answer” when asked about a potential referral of Sir Keir to a sleaze inquiry, as well as accusing the Conservatives of “using tactics” ahead of local elections.
The minister told the BBC’s Sunday Morning with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “You have to remember, what are these privileges committees about? The last time it was used was when Boris Johnson told the House of Commons there were no parties in Downing Street.
“It was then shown he was at five of them and got a fine from the police. That’s what these processes are in place for, so the opposition are just using tactics to try to distract from the fact that the government is doing good work in this pre-election period.”
Asked if it would be right to have the investigation and clear up different interpretations of what has happened, Mr Jones added: “As far as I understand the case, there is no case to answer.”
Labour’s huge majority in the Commons means such a vote would almost certainly not pass, but it could still be damaging for the prime minister.
A government spokesperson said: “Firstly, there are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently.
“Ministers engage with a range of companies as part of their international travel and Palantir is a longstanding investor in the UK.”
