Nigel Farage has said he “doesn’t know how long Keir Starmer will remain as Prime Minister” as he branded the Lord Mandelson scandal the “biggest in over one century”.
The Reform UK leader made the comments during a press conference today, where he announced former Conservative council leader, Dan Thomas, as his party’s new leader in Wales.
Speaking from the event in Newport, Wales, Mr Farage said he “did not know how long” Sir Keir will stay in his post, amid growing backlash from MPs over Lord Mandalson’s appointed as Britain’s ambassador to the US.
The Clacton MP said: “Yesterday, the Prime Minister admitted, because he had to, that’s despite the fact he had known that Mandelson had continued his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein even after he had been sent to prison…he still appointed Mandelson to be our ambassador in Washington.
“But don’t think this scandal is just another political scandal…this involves sex, it involves money, it involves the Royal Family, it involves the leaking of market sensitive, confidential information.”
“This is the biggest scandal in British politics in over one century,” he added.
“I predict that Morgan McSweeney, the chief advisor, will be gone pretty quickly.
“I don’t know how long Keir Starmer will remain as Prime Minister.”
Nigel Farage said he ‘doesn’t know’ how long Sir Keir Starmer will remain as Prime Minister
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Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey have called on Labour MPs to force a vote of no confident against the Prime Minister amid the scandal.
Conservative party leader Mrs Badenoch told a Westminster press conference: “He will have to be dragged out of No10 so I am making them an offer.
“If they want the change they know the country needs, come and speak to my whips and let’s talk seriously about a vote of no confidence to force the moment.”
Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, meanwhile said: “The British people can’t afford for this Labour soap opera to drag on for months or even years, like the Conservative Party did with Boris Johnson.
Keir Starmer is facing growing criticism over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the US
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“We need a government totally focused on ending the cost-of-living crisis, fixing the NHS and care, and getting our economy growing again. Keir Starmer should say ‘put up or shut up’.
“Let’s have a confidence vote now to see whether Labour MPs have any confidence in the Prime Minister, so the Government can get past this one way or the other and start focusing on the change our country needs.”
Lord Mandelsoon was sacked from his Washington role in September last year as more details emerged about his links with Epstein, who died in 2019.
His continued association with Epstein following a 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor had been widely reported before his return to the political front line, when he was named as ambassador in 2024.
Following the latest revelations, he has quit the House of Lords, resigned from the Labour Party, been removed from the Privy Council and faces a criminal probe.