Harry Clarke-Ezzidio

WHAT KEIR WON’T HEAR by @PronouncedAlva Keir Starmer is in trouble. Behind the Prime Minister’s back in the Parliamentary Labour Party, there is now widespread mockery, sarcasm, name-calling and the darkest of gallows humour. MPs are worn down by 16 months of unpopular policies and unforced errors, from winter fuel to the welfare debacle. Many are resigned to serving just a single term in parliament. Some are nervous and embarrassed to admit they are Labour MPs when out socially. Even the smallest of frustrations sends MPs apoplectic. In today’s Labour Party, there is constant, fevered discussion about the prospect of a leadership challenge in May or in the aftermath of the Budget, about the possible contenders and the exact mechanism by which it would be done. With the party hitting its lowest-ever poll rating at just 17 per cent, many are no longer willing to overlook the flaws they perceive in their leader. One MP put it starkly: “He’s squandering the opportunity of a generation. We might not be in power again for decades.” Everything that happens in the coming weeks and months will be underpinned by this reality, as the government does all it can to weather the inevitable storm of the Budget, in which it will seek to impose new tax rises on the country from a position of almost unparalleled unpopularity. “We don’t do regicide,” is the mantra for many in Labour. A senior No 10 source says Starmer would fight any leadership challenge against him. But still, one Labour grandee recently left No 10 in bewilderment, and told senior colleagues: “Those people are in denial.”

🚨Caerphilly by-election dispatch🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pissed off Labour Councillors and volunteers; a rattled Reform candidate; a fragile Plaid voting base… The end of Welsh Labour? Me & @BNHWalker have been around town taking it all in @NewStatesman: newstatesman.com/politics/uk-po…