Sir Keir Starmer was on Saturday accused of drawing up plans to sack Wes Streeting for allegedly plotting to take his job.
The Prime Minister faced claims he wanted to fire the Health Secretary but bring back former deputy PM Angela Rayner despite accusations she too had designs on his position.
But the so-called plan, which emerged ahead of Thursday’s crucial Gorton and Denton by-election, was condemned by one Labour MP as a ‘punishment beating disguised as a reshuffle’ to distract from Labour’s potential defeat in the polls.
Another said Sir Keir would be ‘quite mad’ to fire Mr Streeting and thereby provoke a genuine leadership challenge which he narrowly swerved earlier this month.
One Labour MP said: ‘We’re hearing he wants to show strength and get shot of Wes. And to curry favour with more Left-wing MPs, he’d bring Angie back. He’s always said he wants her back.’
Another added: ‘Keir wants to sack Wes but he wants to wait until Angie’s clear of her tax row. However, he’s also being told he can’t hang around and should get on with that now.’
It is barely two weeks since the PM staved off immediate threats to his leadership following the growing controversy to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite his known links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir was left severely weakened after his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quit over the Mandelson row, while Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar openly called on the PM to resign.
Sir Keir Starmer (right) was accused of drawing up plans to sack Health Secretary Wes Streeting (left) for allegedly plotting to take his job
The PM’s so-called plan to fire the health secretary has been condemned by one Labour MP as a ‘punishment beating disguised as a reshuffle’ to distract from Labour’s potential defeat in the polls. Pictured: the pair together during a visit to University College London Hospital in 2024
The Prime Minister recently received a public vote of confidence from the Health Secretary (pictured), following mounting calls for his resignation during the Peter Mandelson crisis
And party insiders insisted he survived only because neither Mr Streeting nor Ms Rayner were ready to mount a challenge and would prefer to let the PM take the blame for this week’s potential by-election disaster and the May elections.
Ms Rayner is awaiting the outcome of an HMRC investigation into the alleged £40,000 of unpaid stamp duty on her new £800,000 flat in Hove that forced her to resign from the Cabinet last year.
Her supporters privately predict she will be ‘exonerated’ by the investigation for making an ‘inadvertent error’ over the tax bill.
Separately, critics of Mr Streeting said his leadership hopes were now damaged by his former links to Lord Mandelson. He has denied they were close friends.
Only last November, the Health Secretary angrily denied claims he was manoeuvring against Sir Keir, and his supporters last night denied renewed claims he was plotting against the Prime Minister.
Downing Street last night dismissed claims the PM wanted to sack Mr Streeting as ‘utter nonsense’ and ‘not the view of the PM or anyone in Number 10’.
The Number 10 source added: ‘Wes is doing a great job as Health Secretary, cutting waiting lists to their lowest level in three years.’
