***NEW: State of play this evening*** Keir Starmer has defied all expectations, surviving the day despite some 90 Labour MPs calling for his head and four junior ministerial resignations. A minister tells Bloomberg they are astonished Starmer has managed to get through it without being forced to announce a timetable for his departure, saying the day went better for him than anyone can have imagined. Starmer’s stance at cabinet effectively dared his rivals to come out and publicly challenge him. As of this evening, no one has. Streeting is speaking with Starmer tomorrow morning, as per @steven_swinford, after the PM blanked him post-cabinet. The health secretary’s allies say he won’t say anything to distract from the king’s speech. Labour MPs and aides think Streeting is conducting what one calls a campaign of attrition against Starmer by drip-feeding his supporters’ calls for the PM to go. His camp deny he is orchestrating a plot. Streeting’s supporters say they are divided about his strategy. Some are disappointed he has not yet gone over the top, fearing he could be seen as losing his nerve and being labelled a bottle job. However, others caution that pressure has to grow organically on Starmer before Streeting is able to challenge him, otherwise the soft-left will accuse him of a cynical move to force a contest before Andy Burnham is ready. One Streeting supporter says they fear his chances of becoming PM are decreasing. They say they’re struggling to see how he has a path to No10 because if he runs the soft-left will put someone up against him who is likely to be favoured by members. They say they’re coming to terms with what they see as the likelihood that Burnham will succeed Starmer. However so far Burnham is also still silent. He’s in London meeting MPs and discussing his options. His camp insist he has a plan to make it to parliament, but so far they’ve stopped short of announcing it. Labour is in a state of paralysis tonight. David Lammy says no one has come forward and no one seems to have the numbers against Starmer. Most in Labour don’t expect that to hold. They still think the PM will be forced to announce a timetable in the coming days if Streeting, Burnham and the cabinet move. But as of right now, he clings on. Story with great colleagues @EllenAMilligan @Joe_Mayes >>> bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
