Lucy Fisher

But as we stand, you know, Streeting has insisted that while he is preparing a campaign, he hasn't been plotting and wouldn't challenge Starmer.

it's a day of jeopardy for Streeting, it seems to me, as well as Keir Starmer.

Well, he was, although his supporters say that that was a smear campaign against him.

And he took the highly unusual move of releasing all his own WhatsApps with Mandelson, which his team thought, you know, showed that they hadn't been in touch terribly much before.

although, you know, angered some other Cabinet colleagues who thought, well, this lays down a gauntlet for people sort of revealing private messages with the disgraced peer.

To my mind, the more damaging or difficult barrier for him to overcome is, you know, his politics.

He is from the Blairite wing of the party.

They are, you know, out of favour.

And the rules, since the rule change in the Labour Party, which gives far more of a say to the membership base,

and takes it out of the hands of MPs, you know, I think it's difficult for him to win.

I think the way that this contest will shake down if it does happen is that the key question will be which leader can beat Nigel Farage at a general election.

And frankly, what I would expect to see is rival analyses, rival polling, rival focus groups, all designed to sort of fluff and boost, you know, the rival candidates.

So it's not clear there will be a definitive answer to that question, but I think that's what the essay question will be.

Well, I think we're yet to see any qualitative analysis via opinion polls.

But we know from experience, Ollie and I, of having covered quite a few of these coups now in recent years, as you say, mainly in the Conservative Party, that, you know, the public hate the spectacle of infighting and sort of inward fighting.

looking parties squabbling, and particularly at a time when the UK is in economic crisis with inflation rising, the cost of borrowing getting more expensive, the Iran war, the Ukraine war in terms of a geopolitical turmoil backdrop.

And on top of that, we have the evidence this morning of the gilt markets that they are not enjoying this spectacle at all.

So

I think there will be moves afoot to try and calm the markets, but it's difficult.

You know, the race in some senses feels like it's on and you've got rival factions and caucuses within the Labour Party now trying to put forward policy blueprints.