Explosive confrontation at Number 10 follows PM’s Commons mauling over sacked ambassador’s Jeffrey Epstein links
A blazing row between Sir Keir Starmer and his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over the Peter Mandelson scandal has plunged the Labour government into its deepest crisis yet, with despairing MPs now looking to Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as a potential saviour.
The extraordinary confrontation erupted at Number 10 on Wednesday after the Prime Minister returned from a bruising Commons session where he faced intense questioning over Lord Mandelson’s ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. According to a highly placed Whitehall source, the furious exchange saw Starmer bellowing at McSweeney: “You are supposed to protect me from things like this!”
McSweeney reportedly roared back: “That’s exactly what I was trying to do!”
Whilst Downing Street has denied the encounter took place as described, initially even attempting to claim McSweeney was out of the country before backtracking, the damage to Starmer’s authority appears terminal. The Mandelson debacle has transformed from embarrassment into full-blown political crisis that could end the Prime Minister’s tenure just over a year into office.
Labour MPs Plot Alternative Future
The scale of the crisis became clear as even traditionally supportive voices turned against the embattled leader. Labour MP Clive Lewis told the BBC that Starmer does not seem “up to the job”, warning of a “very dangerous atmosphere” within the parliamentary party.
You see a Labour Prime Minister who feels that he’s lost control within the first year,” Lewis said, adding that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was now “eight points ahead of us” in some polls.
Behind the scenes, MPs are already manoeuvring for a post-Starmer era. Multiple Labour sources confirm that supporters of Andy Burnham are positioning the Manchester Mayor as the party’s potential saviour, with Lucy Powell’s candidacy in the ongoing deputy leadership election seen as a crucial proxy battle.
The new left-wing campaign group “Mainstream”, launched by Burnham earlier this week, is being viewed as laying groundwork for a leadership challenge. The group calls for wealth taxes, nationalisation of utilities, and an end to the two-child benefit cap – positioning itself firmly against Starmer’s centrist approach.
Andy Burnham is setting out his stall to become party leader,” a Labour source told insiders, with speculation mounting that the Mayor could seek a parliamentary seat as early as next May’s local elections.
McSweeney Under Fire
At the heart of the crisis is Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff and the man who orchestrated both his leadership victory and Labour’s 2024 general election triumph. Sources confirm McSweeney was the driving force behind Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, despite warnings from security services about the peer’s connections to Epstein.
“Morgan was adamant it had to be Peter,” one minister revealed. He said our priority had to be securing a trade deal with the US, and that as a former EU trade commissioner, Mandelson was the man to do it.
The relationship between McSweeney and Mandelson runs deep. The peer once said of the chief of staff: “I don’t know who and how and when McSweeney was invented. But whoever was responsible… they will find their place in heaven.”
According to senior diplomatic sources, the Foreign Office was “largely cut out” of the appointment process as McSweeney took direct control. Security services raised multiple “red flags” about Mandelson’s business links with Russia and China, as well as his relationship with Epstein, but these concerns were allegedly overruled.
Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind suggested the revelations could force Starmer to sack his chief of staff if the claims prove true. “That’s for the prime minister to decide whether he’s a suitable adviser for the future depending on what did actually happen,” he told Times Radio.
Mandelson’s Dramatic Sacking
Lord Mandelson was dramatically sacked as ambassador on Thursday after Bloomberg revealed over 100 emails between him and Epstein, including messages where the peer offered support to the financier as he faced child sex offence charges. In one email, Mandelson had told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The Foreign Office stated that “the depth and extent” of Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different from that known at the time of his appointment. However, allies of the peer claim he was frank about his Epstein connections during vetting, piling pressure on Starmer to explain what he knew and when.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch seized on the scandal, saying: “These latest revelations point yet again to the terrible judgement of Keir Starmer and why it is imperative that all documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment are released immediately.
She added: “For Keir Starmer and Morgan McSweeney to have appointed Lord Mandelson despite concerns being raised by the security services shows a blatant disregard of all national security considerations.
Deputy Leadership Battle as Proxy War
The ongoing deputy leadership election has become what insiders describe as a “proxy war between Keir and Andy Burnham”. Lucy Powell, recently sacked as Commons Leader in Starmer’s reshuffle, secured 117 MP nominations to reach the final ballot against Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who received 175 nominations.
Powell, known to be “furious” about her dismissal, is backed by Burnham and represents the soft left challenge to Starmer’s authority. Her campaign statement emphasised bringing together “all parts of the party” and ensuring backbenchers’ voices are heard – a clear rebuke to the current leadership’s approach.
Paula Barker withdrew from the race to support Powell, whilst left-wing candidate Bell Ribeiro-Addy failed to secure the necessary 80 nominations. The contest was triggered by Angela Rayner’s resignation last Friday after she was found to have breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.
Growing Calls for Change
The crisis has prompted even Starmer’s former allies to question his future. Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett called on the Prime Minister to “widen the circle” of advisers around him, suggesting he needed “people with experience, people who are seasoned politicians” rather than relying on “younger people, the less experienced people who gather around him.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell painted a devastating picture of dysfunction at the top of the party: “What we are now witnessing is a panicked, half-hearted policy retreat, while the backroom boys – Morgan McSweeney in the leader’s office and Nick Parrott in the deputy leader’s office – fight between themselves.”
One senior Labour figure told sources that Starmer should urgently review his Number 10 operation. “I don’t come across any Morgan McSweeney fans,” they said. “His contempt for MPs is well known.”
Another Labour backbencher, speaking anonymously, was even more blunt: “I think Morgan McSweeney runs the show, and Keir just enables it and makes very bad decisions. Even a Morgan problem is ultimately a Keir problem.”
The Burnham Alternative
Burnham, who served in Gordon Brown’s cabinet and previously ran for Labour leader in 2010 and 2015, has cultivated an image as the “King of the North” following his high-profile battles with the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his mayoralty, Manchester’s economy has grown faster than any major UK city outside London.
The former Health Secretary has repeatedly clashed with Starmer’s leadership, particularly over welfare policy and the party’s direction. His new “Mainstream” campaign has drawn comparisons to the Labour Together think tank that McSweeney used to orchestrate Starmer’s rise to power.
Speculation is mounting that Burnham and Powell could execute a strategic swap, with the MP potentially running to replace him as Manchester Mayor whilst he campaigns for her parliamentary seat. This would make Burnham eligible for a leadership challenge that some predict could come as early as next May.
Political editor Anna Mikhailova noted: “There was already talk about Andy Burnham a week ago, before everything with Peter Mandelson.
A Government in Crisis
The Mandelson scandal represents just the latest in a series of crises that have battered Starmer’s government. Following Angela Rayner’s resignation over tax affairs, the winter fuel payment controversy, and mounting economic challenges, the Prime Minister’s authority appears fatally weakened.
Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander acknowledged MPs were “despondent”, whilst attempting to defend the government’s record. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the situation had left “the PM and McSweeney, his right-hand man, in a very difficult position with their own parliamentary party.
The New Statesman’s Stephen Bush wrote that the Mandelson appointment “raises questions” about Starmer and McSweeney’s political judgement, whilst The Spectator questioned whether McSweeney could survive the fallout.
As one Labour MP starkly warned: “A choice is emerging for Keir.” With Burnham waiting in the wings and McSweeney under fire, that choice may soon be taken out of the Prime Minister’s hands entirely.
The question now facing Labour MPs is not whether change is coming, but how quickly it will arrive and whether the party can survive the turmoil ahead.
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Image Credit:
Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, Crown Prosecution Service, UK (2013) — photo by Chatham House, licensed CC BY 2.0.
