Good morning. This is Tom McTague, editor-in-chief of the New Statesman.
The argument over Keir Starmer’s future, previously held in private, has now moved into the public domain. Questions that once belonged to anonymous briefings and late-night conversations dominate the front pages. Yet despite the noise, the outcome remains unresolved.
In our cover story, Ailbhe Rea reports from inside that strange interregnum. She finds a government dusting itself off after a bruising couple of weeks, a prime minister determined to fight on, rivals angling for the throne and a new battle of ideas that threatens to engulf the party.
Andy Burnham is attempting something unusually high-risk in modern politics: to turn a by-election into a demonstration that Labour can win a general election. Wes Streeting, newly unleashed, is making the case that the party’s deeper problem is not leadership alone but the absence of argument.
Neither man has yet secured the prize. But both are already competing to define the terms on which the next phase of Labour politics will be fought.
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Have a great day. Thank you for you reading.
If Andy Burnham wins the by-election he would be one to really change Labour into a party for the people. If the voters in that by-election can see him as their possible PM, I'm wondering if more people will get out to vote for him. If he wins the Leadership he needs a cabinet shuffle as well.
The NS has some influence on the battle for the Labour leadership. Come on, we are entitled to your opinions. Mine are that Andy Burnham should be party leader andPM and Angela should be restored to Deputy Leader. I cannot wait for the return of decent leadership, last seen in June 2007.