Crises follow Starmer: “The worst sin”
Published 06.00
Criticism is simmering around Keir Starmer – and could flare up into a major crisis of confidence.
As Britain’s sixth prime minister in a decade, he was supposed to bring order. Now he is accused of committing the worst of political sins.
The Labour Party and Starmer won a landslide election victory less than two years ago, after a turbulent ten-year period in which the conservative Tory Party steered the country out of the EU with five different prime ministers at the helm.
Keir Starmer promised peace and quiet. Unlike, for example, the profligate former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he presented himself as the guy who always follows the rules, says Tim Bale, a political science professor at Queen Mary University of London, to the AP.
– The latest revelations in the unholy mess that arose from his indiscriminate appointment of Peter Mandelson therefore make many voters see him not just as a liar but as a hypocrite, says Bale.
– And hypocrisy is one of the very worst sins a British politician can commit.
Alarmed in trial
The handling of the fired ambassador, former Labour boss and Jeffrey Epstein-linked Peter Mandelson, has weighed on Starmer's government for a long time. As the prime minister has fended off accusations of poor judgment – and sacked several aides – more incriminating information has emerged.
Starmer had insisted that the appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the United States followed all the rules. The Guardian then revealed that Mandelson had botched the security clearance for the job but was still given the green light.
The prime minister has angrily declared that he has been misled. The opposition accuses him of deliberately misleading parliament. The opposition parties, led by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, are demanding that Starmer resign.
The election will be a litmus test
Keir Starmer says no. In practice, it is up to his party colleagues, and only a few demands for resignation have been heard from them.
Where the Tory party has had recurring rebellions and leadership changes, Labour has a different tradition and a higher threshold for removing a leader. An individual challenger must receive the support of at least a fifth of MPs, currently 81.
There is a larger group in the Labour ranks who have so far avoided taking a position, among them several ministers and some who are believed to have their own party leadership ambitions.
On Thursday, British local and regional elections are expected, where Labour is predicted to suffer a huge defeat. Then the dissatisfaction could gain new momentum.
– A challenger will probably want to let Starmer take full responsibility for a collection of results that everyone assumes will be devastating, says Steven Fielding, a professor at the University of Nottingham, to AFP.
FACTS
The Mandelson scandal
Peter Mandelson – a knighted former Labour leader, minister and EU commissioner – was appointed Britain's ambassador to the United States in January 2025. In the autumn, he was fired after it was revealed that he had much closer contact with Jeffrey Epstein than he had reported.
Mandelson had described his acquaintance with the convicted sex offender and political networker Epstein as superficial. When the investigations into Epstein in the United States became public, it became clear that the two were close friends, even after Epstein's convictions. Mandelson is being investigated for having given sensitive information to Epstein during his time in government.
According to the government, Mandelson lied. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted that the appointment followed all the rules. It has since emerged that there had been red flags raised in the security clearance process for the job, but that they were ignored.
Several people involved have been sacked: Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, the most senior official at the Foreign Office, Sir Olly Robbins, and several junior officials.
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