Defending the indefensible: having manoeuvred Keir Starmer into the Labour leadership and No10 through his shadowy organisation Labour Together, Croydon MP Steve Reed has been all over broadcast media trying to keep his placeman in place

As health secretary Wes Streeting considers resigning from government, possibly triggering a leadership challenge, Steve Reed, Sarah Jones and Natasha Irons are backing Starmer

‘Island of strangers’: Sir Keir Starmer may be choking on the thought of his many missteps as Prime Minister

“Uncle” Keir Starmer is clinging on to the job of Prime Minister, probably grateful for the hiatus caused by today’s State Opening of Parliament ceremonials, after three days of dissent and calls for his resignation, even from members of his own cabinet following last week’s disastrous local elections.

The latest resignation threat has come this morning from Wes Streeting, the erstwhile health secretary.

But as he stages what he has described, as a “battle for the soul of our nation”, Starmer at least has the consolation that he has the support of Croydon’s three Labour MPs. For the time being, anyway.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, have both told Starmer he needs to make way for someone else. Other senior ministers talked to the Prime Minister about what a “responsible, dignified, orderly” exit might look like.

Almost one-quarter of Starmer’s MPs have formally requested he step down, either now or at an agreed time. Several ministers have resigned, with one of them, Jess Phillips, condemning the prime minister as too weak and process-driven ever to implement real change.

Meanwhile, Croydon’s Labour MPs appear quite content with the way the country is going, even after 1,500 Labour councillors across the country lost their seats in Thursday’s “earthquake elections”.

Parachuted in: Starmer’s niece Ellie Sandover is now a Croydon councillor. As 1,500 Labour councillors lost their seats (as imagined by The Prole Star)

Steve Reed, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North if ever he can be bothered) has adopted the role of defender-in-chief for Starmer. Which is hardly surprising, since Reed was among those in the shadowy, law-breaking splinter group Labour Together who undermined the previous Labour leader and installed Starmer as the person they saw who would do their bidding.

Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon West, has lived down to her moniker of “Silent Sarah”. She’s been silent on the matter.

Jones’s name does not appear on the list of MPs calling for Starmer to go, but nor does her name appear on the list of MPs saying they want him to stay. Having just seen Starmer’s niece, Ellie Sandover, parachuted in to the safe Labour ward of Bensham Manor as a Croydon councillor, Jones may be biding her time, seeing how things settle down to maintain her position as a junior minister.

Natasha Irons, MP for Croydon East, has been outspoken about the position – though only on secret Labour MP WhatsApp groups, leaked to the press. Inside Croydon has seen the interchange. But then, so has everyone on Irons’ Twatter account now.

Bottom line: Croydon East MP Natasha Irons believes keeping Starmer as PM is better than an alternative

Irons says: “Bottom line, changing leader because Nigel Farage has forced us to is not something any of us can come back from. Anyone who thinks we can needs to wake up.”

Irons was a councillor in Merton until elected as MP at the 2024 General Election. Croydon East is probably the most marginal of Croydon’s four parliamentary seats, and among Conservative, and possibly Reform, target seats.

In the internal WhatsApp spat, Irons’ message brought a sharp rebuke from Peter Lamb, the MP for Crawley and a former staffer at The Campaign Company, the consultancy business that was established in Croydon by David Evans, Starmer’s pick to be Labour’s General Secretary.

Responding to Irons’s rallying call, Lamb snapped back: “Anyone who thinks this is sustainable needs an MRI.”

Pearls were dropped.

“This is really rude,” said one earnest member of the group. “We get enough insults on our socials. Let’s leave them out here,” said another.

Irons, however, shrugged it off. “I don’t think this is rude! I’ve heard worse. Peter and I are fine.”

And, once the exchange had been leaked, Irons doubled down on her “I’m backing Keir” stance. “I stand by this,” she tweeted, re-posting the screengrab.

For how long, though, remains to be seen, as the latest twist in what has been called “Labour’s psychodrama” (they are always psychodramas these days…), is that Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is considering resigning after a cursory 15-minute one-on-one with the PM in Downing Street this morning.

Streeting out of the Cabinet could well trigger the leadership challenge that Reed had been saying had failed to materialise just 24 hours earlier. And Streeting may consider this to be his main chance to grab the top job, while rivals Angela Rayner has tax issues and “King of the North” Andy Burnham remains without a seat in Parliament.

The Grauniad reported this morning: “Keir Starmer is still the UK’s prime minister. It is even possible he might be in a few months from now. But after two days punctuated by confusion and drama on a scale that belies Labour’s promise to end years of political upheaval, his authority appears shredded.”

Whatever policies may be read by King Charles III at the Palace of Westminster today, it is looking increasingly unlikely that “Uncle Keir” will be around for long to implement them.

Read more: Earthquake election but Croydon only felt some small tremors
Read more: The Fraud: how Reed’s Labour spied on Croydon councillors
Read more: Keir Starmer’s niece is council election candidate in safe ward
Read more: We have been betrayed by broken promises, deceit and scandal

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