Keir Starmer is facing intensifying criticism from within his own party as the fallout from the Lord Mandelson saga continues to engulf Downing Street, prompting warnings that his leadership could be in jeopardy.
Baroness Harriet Harman, Labour’s former deputy leader, said the controversy had become “so serious” that the prime minister could be toppled unless he takes decisive action. Speaking on Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, she said Sir Keir must confront hard questions about his judgment and the running of his top team.
The prime minister is now under growing pressure to overhaul his Number 10 operation, with some Labour MPs privately arguing that his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, should step aside as part of a wider reset.
Harman urges Starmer to stop shifting blame
In comments to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Baroness Harman said Sir Keir should be “thinking about a real reset” and reflect on why he appointed Lord Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the United States despite longstanding concerns about his past and his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir used a speech in Hastings on Thursday to apologise to Epstein’s victims for believing Lord Mandelson’s “lies” about his relationship with the disgraced financier. But Baroness Harman warned that framing the issue that way was damaging.
“He’s got to stop blaming Mandelson and saying, ‘he lied to me’,” she said. “Because, actually, he should never have been considering him in the first place.
“To say ‘he lied to me’ makes it look weak and naive and gullible. So it’s just completely the wrong thing.”
She added: “Peter Mandelson was called the Prince of Darkness. It’s not a secret that he was a bad person. I think that it is very, very serious for Keir Starmer because it goes to the values of the government.”
Mandelson documents, internal unrest and calls for change
Beth Rigby has said the affair has left the prime minister “fighting for his political life”. Lord Mandelson, a key figure in New Labour under Tony Blair, resigned twice from ministerial roles in past scandals before being brought into Sir Keir’s orbit in early 2025 as part of efforts to build relations with the Trump administration.
He was dismissed in September after appearing in Epstein-related files and photographs released by a US Congressional committee. Further revelations emerged last week in a release of around three million documents by the US Department of Justice.
Papers linked to Lord Mandelson’s appointment in Washington are now set to be published after MPs backed a Conservative motion on Wednesday night. However, documents deemed sensitive to national security or international relations must first be reviewed by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, which has said there is “no timetable” for completion.
Publication could also be delayed by a criminal investigation into Lord Mandelson over allegations he leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein.
Despite the turmoil, Sir Keir has suggested Mr McSweeney’s position is secure and warned that Labour MPs fuelling leadership speculation are only aiding political opponents. Speaking on Thursday, he said every minute not spent addressing the cost of living or combating what he called the “toxic division of Reform” was a minute wasted.
Yet unease on the backbenches is growing. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Barry Gardiner have publicly suggested Sir Keir should reflect on his position, while veteran MP Graham Stringer said he did not believe the prime minister had “a very long future”.
“You always blame the person at the top, the prime minister,” Mr Stringer told Sky News. “He got his tone wrong. He got the details wrong. And effectively the first amendment that he put down, which he had to change, was effectively – although not in name but in reality – a vote of no confidence in him.
“I don’t think he’s got a very long future. The discussion you could ask virtually any Labour MP is, it’s when and who, not whether [the PM goes].”
Opposition pressure and polling warning signs
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have both called for a vote of confidence in the prime minister. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch described the affair as a “catastrophic error of judgement”, saying either Sir Keir or Mr McSweeney should take responsibility.
Asked whether that meant a resignation, she replied: “Yes.”
Polling suggests the story is resonating with voters. New YouGov data indicates that 50% of Britons believe Sir Keir would be best standing down, compared with 24% who want him to remain in post. A further 26% said they were unsure.
YouGov’s Peter English said the Mandelson saga had clearly “cut through” with the public. Earlier polling showed 95% of Britons were aware of the story, with 44% following it closely.
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“This is dominating the news cycle. People are paying attention,” he said. “The Mandelson thing specifically, it is definitely cutting through.”
However, he cautioned that it was “probably not going to change too many minds… one-off stories rarely do change minds”.
Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are widely seen as potential successors should Sir Keir step aside, though allies of both insist they have no plans to challenge the prime minister.
