Lucy Hough

I think there was a sense in the last few weeks that Keir Starmer's position was bolstered by his strong response to the Iran war, his strong response to pressure from Donald Trump in the White House, and that people were sort of prepared to rally around him, even if the results of those elections were catastrophic, as they are predicted to be for Labour.

But I mean, this last week has been

hugely damaging for him.

Where do you think things stand now?

Yes, it sounds like from what you're saying that it's a question of when, not if.

And there's been some fascinating reporting from our colleagues in the lobby, Jessica Elgott and Kieran Stacey, about MPs sort of effectively making a pact that they'll stand by Starmer until Burnham is in a position where he's able to take over.

And that would obviously involve him becoming an MP, not Mayor of Manchester.

We should also say that a few days after the May the 7th elections, there's due to be the second batch of Mandelson documents.

So, you know, the storm is not going anywhere, is it?

Gosh, tense times.

Thank you so much for your time, Archie.

That's it for today.

My huge thanks again to Archie Bland, The Guardian's head of national news.

You can keep up with all our reporting over at theguardian.com.

And I do recommend today's episode of Politics Weekly America.

Jonathan Friedman will be exploring why Donald Trump is more ruthless in his second term and whether the FBI's Kash Patel could be next.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Latest.

Today on Focus, we'll be back in your feeds on Monday morning.

The Latest, we'll be back on Monday night.

This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hoff.