HUMILIATED Sir Keir Starmer may be on the brink of being ousted as Labour leader already – with backers of deputy Angela Rayner secretly plotting a takeover bid if he goes.
Knives came out for the Labour boss today after the party were annihilated in the Chesham & Amersham by-election.
They only managed to muster a paltry 622 votes – fewer votes than they have party members in the area – as the Libs stormed to victory with 21,517 backers.
Smelling blood, backers of Ms Rayner and fellow frontbencher Lisa Nandy have already started ringing round Labour MPs to ask for their backing if Sir Keir goes, HOAR can reveal.
But Team Angela denied she was putting together a fresh bid to become leader, and stressed that any ringaround was not coming from her.
Despairing Labour MPs said Sir Keir could be ousted within the next few weeks if he loses the next crunch by-election in Batley & Spen in two weeks time.
One told HOAR: “He is not cutting it. There are lots of grumbles. Batley could be the trigger.”
Another Labour Starmer loyalist admitted “he is in trouble.”
The Lib Dems stormed to a thumping victory in the leafy Buckinghamshire constituency – overturning a 16,000 vote Tory majority – with Sarah Green becoming Parliament’s newest MP.
It is the first time the Conservatives have failed to win the seat since it was created in 1974.
Seething locals revolted over plans to build the rail link HS2 through the area, controversial looming planning reforms and anger over the Covid schools chaos.
But while the Tories were licking their wounds after the pummelling, it was Labour who was left utterly humiliated.
One Tory source said: “The opposition have proved they can win by-elections… but it’s not Labour.
“There must be tough questions for Keir.”
Labour’s vote share plummeted so low, they sank behind the Greens and lost their deposit.
It comes just weeks after the party lost the once super safe Red Wall stronghold of Hartlepool to the Tories as Boris put another blue brick in the Red Wall.
Fed up Labour MPs said they are “in despair” – and warned their party could be wiped out for good as it is squeezed between Boris Johnson’s Tories in the north, and a resurgent Lib Dems in the south.
No10 insiders admitted the result had come as a “bit of a surprise” but added: “weird things happen in by-elections”.
HOAR revealed earlier this week that the Tories were on track to suffer a historic loss.
Earlier tyeshe PM described the “disappointing” shock result as “peculiar” and “a bit bizarre”.
Insiders blamed “local issues” for the loss and accused the Lib Dems of running a “scare campaign” over the PM’s controversial planning rules.
But the PM doubled down, insisting he had no plans to deviate from them, as he gears up for a fresh fight with his irritated backbenchers.
He said: “Young people growing up in this country should have the chance of homeownership – it’s a great dream for young people in their 20s and 30s that they currently don’t have, in the way that they perhaps had a few decades ago.
“That’s something that we want to bring back, we want to make it easier.”
He vowed he wouldn’t rip up the greenbelt and would instead build hundreds of thousands of new homes for families on brownfield sites, accusing opponents of “willfully misunderstanding” his policies.
Gleeful Lib Dem Chief Sir Ed Davey told HOAR: “Voters reckon all Boris talks about is the North – they’re thinking ‘so what about us’?”
He predicted the party could pick up a swathe of Southern seats at the next election if voters continue to flock back to them and added: “The Tory blue wall is under attack.”
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.hellofaread.com/politics/bosses-wont-be-able-to-force-workers-back-to-the-office-as-no-laws-to-ban-work-from-home/
