Chapter 1: What led to the challenge of Keir Starmer's leadership?
Now, a challenge to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership has heated up this morning after her former deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, revealed that she has been cleared of any deliberate wrongdoing over her tax affairs. The development comes as Starmer's main challenger, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary...
It's said to be ready to resign from his role and begin an open challenge to the Prime Minister's leadership. For the latest from Westminster, I'm joined by Whitehall editor with the Financial Times, Lucy Fisher. Morning, Lucy. Good morning. It's getting very exciting now, isn't it?
To start with the Angela Rayner thing, could you just remind our listeners about her little tax problem, which appears now to have been resolved because it was serious enough to force her resignation?
Well, that's right. She bought an apartment in Brighton last year and did not pay second home levels of tax on the purchase of that property. It's quite complicated because she has... a son with certain disabilities that are congenital and had set up a trust in order to ensure that his future is protected around her first property. So it was quite a knotty affair.
But ultimately, she was found by HMRC to have not paid the right amount of tax. It was quite significant. Ā£40,000, we understand today, is the additional tax she's had to pay to make up for it. But a crucial thing for her is that she's not been fined. She's not been found to have been reckless or worse regarding her tax affairs. It was a mistake, but she's not been fined for it.
OK, so the shadow over Angela Rayner has been lifted, which means she potentially could enter the race.
Well, that's right. And that sort of massively heats things up. At the same time, you know, again, signalling today she won't trigger a contest herself. So all eyes are really on where's streeting and we're waiting now. We've just had the latest NHS waiting list data, which shows the biggest fall in quite some time.
So if he's going to do it, you'd think that now would be the moment off the back of that data to launch.
Right. So he needs 81 MPs to back his leadership bid if he is going to throw down the gauntlet. I saw a post on Blue Sky from one of your colleagues, Jessica Elgott from The Guardian, who said the most intense lobbying effort I have ever seen in my decade in Westminster is currently underway to brief that Wes Streeting doesn't have the numbers.
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Chapter 2: What issues surrounded Angela Rayner's tax affairs?
It's so difficult to tell. In one sense, you know, there are ministers who would back him if there were a contest, but don't want to have to resign and go over the parapet in the event that, you know, a contest isn't triggered and then they've lost their job in government, their sort of red briefcase, their government car and so forth.
And they've lost the opportunity to serve the people, of course.
Well, well, quite, quite, if you take a more innocent view of politicians' intentions. And on top of that, the other point I'd add is that this lobbying effort also potentially has the successful effect of deterring other MPs from backing Wes. It's a clever tactic.
Now, we saw Wes Treason going into Number 10 Downing Street yesterday morning. And coming out rather quickly after about, I think, 16 minutes or so was the amount of time. Do we know anything about what went on at that meeting between West Street and Keir Starmer?
Well, remarkably few details have leaked from it. It's very curious. And ahead of the meeting, both sides made clear they weren't going to brief. They wanted to respect the monarch and not cause any embarrassment to the palace as the king was en route to Westminster to read out the king's speech, the legislative agenda for the next session of parliament.
um and um you know after the meeting you know it's when the briefing started to come out that that streeting would resign today and trigger a leadership contest now there was lots of um to and fro and and theorizing among mps yesterday i spoke to some who thought actually it was downing street that leaked that idea or briefed it in order to try and bounce streeting into going today or or or appearing to have bottled it or not have the numbers so
There's just so much intrigue in Westminster that every small move is giving rise to all sorts of theories.
OK, and what about the King of the North?
Well, the King of the North, again, seems to be in a spot of bother, potentially. His allies repeatedly briefing that it's all good, he's got a seat locked up, he can do it, he can come back to Parliament. But the more days drag on without him being able to announce which seat it is,
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