Sir Keir Starmer is “definitely” approaching the “endgame” of his time in Downing Street, a top political historian has predicted.
Speaking to GB News, Sir Anthony Seldon declared that if the Prime Minister was to fight a leadership challenge, it would “turn out very badly for him”.
In an interview with GB News at the G7 Summit, Sir Keir dismissed leadership challenge claims by ex-Health Secretary Wes Streeting as “chatter”.
He told Political Editor Christopher Hope: “My job is to get on and serve the country, bring about the change, try and help solve some of the big global issues that are having such an effect on our economy and our country, so I’m here concentrating on that.
“That’s the right thing to do, and I think most people would say, ‘there’s always political chatter, we don’t want our Prime Minster getting involved in that’, what we want is our Prime Minister to get on with the job that we actually elected him in to do.”
Asked by host Andrew Pierce whether Sir Keir is “coming to the end game now” of his time as Prime Minister, Sir Anthony agreed.
He said: “Definitely. His MPs, trade union leaders, Labour members, cabinet members all feel the game’s up.
“And it’s a terrible thing that when Britain should be projecting strength and force on the world stage, not the least at this international summit with the President of the US and Zelenskyy there, Britain is looking as if it doesn’t know what it’s doing with its own leader.”
Sir Keir Starmer has been handed a bleak verdict by Sir Anthony Seldon as he faces fresh leadership threats
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GB NEWS / PA
Sir Anthony predicted that the “great and good” will suggest that Sir Keir would be “much better to leave with dignity” rather than be forced out of office.
He told GB News: “I think that if he does want to fight, it will turn out very badly for him. In the Tory party, there were the men in suits who would come along and tell the Prime Minister, like Winston Churchill in 1955, the game was up.
“I think the equivalent in the Labour Party will be the great and good, who will tell him that much better to leave with dignity, because you will be beaten.
“You will damage Labour and you will damage the country by having protracted leadership squabbles at a time where the country needs stability.”
The Prime Minister dismissed any possible leadership challenge by Wes Streeting as ‘chatter’
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GB NEWSAsked by host Miriam Cates whether the reputation of the Prime Minister could be “rehabilitated by the passage of time”, Sir Anthony was doubtful.
He explained: “Generally, the Prime Ministers are rehabilitated. John Major now looks better in history and so might well Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
“Probably not Liz Truss, who knows, but I can’t see that happening for Keir Starmer.”
The historian continued: “He won a general election landslide, and no Labour Prime Minister has ever done that and blown it so quickly. And you have to say, however difficult the office is, whatever the challenge is thrown at him, that he threw it away.
Sir Anthony told GB News that the Prime Minister has ‘let the country down’
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GB NEWS
“Why? Two big reasons. He had no plan for the economy, and the Prime Minister’s first job that they have is to keep the country solvent and growing, and he didn’t do that.
“And secondly, he had no plan for Government. He gave no plan, no communication skill, no story to the public about why he was there, why Labour was there and where they were going to be going.”
Criticising the Prime Minister’s approach to defence, Sir Anthony concluded that Sir Keir has “let the country down” in keeping Britons safe.
He concluded: “He’s let the country down on on the second most important job, which is to keep the country safe, internally from lawlessness and rioting and threats, and externally from foreign forces. Some sensible people say that the Third World War has already begun.”