Keir Starmer

The Prime Minister facing significant internal pressure and potential resignation.

“I, I get you're really angry about this and that you feel that this was the wrong decision and it's gonna make a real mess. I guess the brutal question is, firstly, is it actually possible for Keir Starmer to survive now that West Streeting and Andy Burnham ar…”

Discussed as the current leader whose position might be challenged and who may need to navigate a potential by-election campaign.

“He communicates better. He's got bigger ideas. He brings in Keir Starmer as his foreign secretary because, my goodness, Starmer's got all the foreign track record and the defense stuff. Rebuilds the government, goes into an election, wins. How about that for y…”

The current leader facing pressure and potential challenges from within his party regarding his mandate.

“probably the best thing to Andy would be forget about Manchester and try and find a seat in London. It might be a little bit... But even in London, it's not sort of absolutely guaranteed. So he's got to get in, he's got to then get eighty nominations himself, …”

The Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party facing a potential leadership challenge.

“And me, Alastair Campbell, and we're talking about developments in the leadership of the Labour Party. We had the dreadful local election results recently, since when there's been massive speculation about whether anybody might challenge Keir Starmer, the prim…”

Mentioned as the current leader whom others are maneuvering against or positioning themselves around.

“Yeah. And it'd be interesting to see, for example, whether if the leadership contest does go ahead and K- and Wes Streeting does have the numbers, whether he will feel that he has to somehow inoculate himself against the charges that are already being put out …”

Discussed in the context of his leadership performance and concerns regarding his political future.

“able to. I'm not saying they can't, and nor am I saying that I think Keir Starmer's been, you know, as good as you and I wanted him to be or even expected him to be. But I still think, you know, I was talking to somebody in, worse than the foreign policy side …”

The Prime Minister facing a serious leadership challenge following poor local election results.

“And with me, Rory Stewart. So this is, uh, a traditional [laughs] emergency podcast driven by the fact that politics in general is getting more and more unstable, so people are hearing more and more of these. And the story today is, uh, Keir Starmer's leadersh…”

The Prime Minister facing calls for resignation and low popularity ratings.

“I think you're absolutely right. There is misery if you try to get rid of him, and there's a risk that you produce somebody who's no better. But if like me you believe it's a certainty that Keir Starmer can't win the next election, a certainty, I mean, the guy…”

The Prime Minister facing internal pressure and speculation regarding his potential resignation.

“In that little speech you gave, the, one of the points is that it's not possible for people to leave the cabinet this morning and brief out that Starmer said he was gonna step down. What he's basically saying is, "I hear you, I understand your concern, but thi…”

Discussed regarding his leadership, low approval ratings, and refusal to resign.

“... he's told them he's not resigning, so heaven knows where that's gonna lead. He said there hasn't been a leadership trigger, contest triggered, and he's going to carry on, so should we all. So let's see where that, where that leads. I think the slight diffe…”

The Prime Minister facing potential leadership challenges and criticism from within his own cabinet.

“Corbyn happened when we were in opposition. The Labour Party was in opposition. The Labour Party is now in government facing incredible economic, strategic, political, military security challenges. And look, I could be completely wrong about this, but I, I, I …”

Current Prime Minister facing internal party pressure and criticism regarding his leadership style.

“Possibly. Possibly. Um, but I think, look, there's, there is such a thing as political gravity, and if he reaches a point of thinking... This is where Boris Johnson died in a way, is that Boris Johnson, uh, he knew that all these ministers were gonna throw in …”

The Prime Minister facing internal party pressure and calls to step down.

“Yeah, I think he'll definitely be prime minister by the end of the day. I think he's gonna, he's, he's gonna, he's gonna Joe Biden it. I just, I just think that [laughs]... I, I just think the, the problem is we're so clearly now into the when is he gonna go, …”

The current Prime Minister facing criticism for his leadership and lack of vision.

“And whoever takes over, if that's what's happening in the coming weeks and months, do not underestimate the pressure immediately to hold a general election or what would be dire political circumstances. So it's why I've been saying that just sit tight and just…”

Discussed regarding his declining approval ratings and the challenges he faces within the Labour Party.

“Okay, pause for a second. Just, just, um, uh, 'cause I, uh, uh, asked the audience. So there's been a lot of different guesses. Some of them accura-- some of them not. But, uh, whereas Starmer, according to Mets, basically about just over twenty percent of peo…”

Discussed as a communicator and compared to Gorbachev in the context of political decline.

“I don't know. I've got to sort out the heating. Derek Patton for PM. Um, pair of muppets. Demagoguery, not democracy. And finally, Keir has been a disastrous communicator, and he's no Captain Oates, sadly. Starmer is Gorbachev, and it's 1991. Anyway, um, enoug…”

Discussed regarding his ability to convey hope and optimism as a leader.

“Well, I think you have to do all three. Uh, in terms of a strategy, you probably have to focus on one or two. But I, I think the other thing that we're missing in this in relation to why Nigel Farage and Zak Polanski have, have been, you know, th- they're gett…”

Discussed regarding his recent speech and media engagement.

“Which is a very depressing thought, but I think it's true. I think it's true right now. And, and I... That's why I think you have to do... You... In a way, you have to do both. You know, another thing I've been very, very critical of, and we saw again yesterda…”

The Prime Minister is facing pressure to set a timetable for stepping down, but has firmly stated he intends to fight to remain in his position.

“And, and, I mean, we're talking about Keir Starmer and whether he's gonna set out a timetable to quit, and he's made it absolutely clear this morning, he put out a statement before Cabinet that, um, no, uh, he is not going to give, um, any indication of when h…”

Discussed regarding his shift from incrementalism to a stated desire for bold leadership, which the hosts find lacking in detail.

“... and, you know, he says, um... And actually, I did a podcast with him for ITV, actually, uh, only a few weeks ago when I was out in the Gulf, um, where he made this argument, which is in and of itself a perfectly reasonable argument, right? Where he says, "…”

The current leader of the Labour Party whose economic direction is being contrasted with potential leadership rivals.

“Now, what is important, I think, is that the candidates for the leadership would, I think, take the economy in a different direction from Starmer. Now, it's early days, and none of them have put out any kind of compelling manifesto-”

Referenced as the current leader whose government is criticized for lacking a sufficient growth plan.

“... to a cost of living crisis. Um, you know, the, the, the only long-term solution to the cost of living crisis is to get the growth rate of the economy up. It is to get the economy generating more taxes in general, and then if you want to, distributing those…”

Discussed in relation to his past political decisions and lack of guts to implement unpopular but necessary economic measures.

“whether any of these, uh, leaders will have the guts to do what Starmer didn't have the guts to do-”

The Prime Minister facing significant pressure from his own party to resign amid a leadership crisis.

“As we record this podcast, more than sixty out of Keir Starmer's governing Labour Party's four hundred and three MPs have now demanded he go. Despite this, he's steadfastly refusing to do so, delivering a defiant message to his cabinet. He said that whilst the…”

British Prime Minister facing government resignations and political instability.

“That report from Wirra Davis. Ministers have started resigning from Keir Starmer's government as the embattled British Prime Minister fights to stay in office following last week's abysmal election results. One of them is the high-profile Jess Phillips. She sa…”

Discussed in the context of his political leadership and potential parallels to Edward Heath during an oil crisis.

“[instrumental music] This episode is brought to you by The Times and by The Sunday Times. Now, if there is one thing that history, and indeed Bob Dylan teaches us, it is that the times they are always a-changing. And Dominic, I guess we're living in changing t…”

Mentioned as a world leader who is not typically seen wearing a hat.

“I've never seen Keir Starmer wearing a hat.”

Discussed as the leader of a government currently facing significant political trouble.

“Of course, it's... You have to have money to do that. One of the thing that, that, that though there is sort of hanging over England is this, um, you know, this Starmer government is in real trouble. It's going into a multi-party system, and obviously, the Nig…”