Keir Starmer handed bleak leadership verdict by Labour MP amid Peter Mandelson scandal: 'It's inevitable'

Georgia Pearce
Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:10:29 +0000

A prominent Labour MP has declared that Sir Keir Starmer's departure as Prime Minister is "almost inevitable", amid the latest revelation in the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Speaking to GB News, Graham Stringer hit out at the latest Government "shambles" after it was revealed that Lord Mandelson failed his security vetting, which was overruled by the Foreign Office.

Breaking his silence on the scandal, Sir Keir said he was "absolutely furious" that the Foreign Office had not made him aware.

He told reporters: "That I wasn't told that Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting when he was appointed is staggering.

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"That I wasn't told that it failed security vetting when I was telling Parliament that due process had been followed is unforgivable.

"Not only was I not told, no minister was told. I'm absolutely furious about that. What I intend to do is to go to Parliament on Monday to set out all the relevant facts in true transparency, so Parliament has the full picture."

Casting doubt on Sir Keir's future in office, Mr Stringer told GB News that it is "inevitable that he goes".

Mr Stringer said: "We promised in the general election that we would get rid of the Tory mess and the shambles that they were making of it.

"This is the latest episode in the shambles that my Government is creating, so I think it is inevitable that he goes."

Pressed by host Miriam Cates on whether he believes Sir Keir did really mislead MPs, he admitted: "The honest answer is, I don't know.

"But it looks very bad that no official in No10 or the Foreign Office said 'what you're saying Prime Minister isn't accurate'."

In further criticism of Sir Keir, Mr Stringer argued that the Prime Minister has "abdicated many of the responsibilities of leadership".

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He told GB News: "Something doesn't ring true about all this, and the deeper question is why is there so much chaos? Who is in control of this Government? It doesn't look as though the Prime Minister is in control.

"We've gone from a situation where the Prime Minister has delegated lots of things, often not in a clear policy framework, and it looks now as though he's abdicated many of the responsibilities of leadership rather than delegating those positions."

Revealed a "divided reaction" amongst fellow Labour MPs since the revelation emerged, Mr Stringer said: "I've not talked to any Labour MPs, but I've looked at WhatsApp groups, and the responses vary from white hot anger to despair about what we do.

"I have not talked to a Labour MP in the last six months who think Sir Keir will fight the next election.

"So I think it is now up to the Labour Party and to have a deep think about how we get somebody into the leadership who can deal with the very difficult questions this country is facing at the moment."

In a statement, a Government spokesman told GB News: "The security vetting process for Peter Mandelson was sponsored by the Foreign Office.

"The decision to grant Developed Vetting to Peter Mandelson against the recommendation of UK Security Vetting was taken by officials in the Foreign Office.

"Neither the Prime Minister nor any Government minister was aware that Peter Mandelson was granted developed vetting against the advice of UK security vetting until earlier this week.

"Once the Prime Minister was informed, he immediately instructed officials to establish the facts about why the developed vetting was granted, in order to enact plans to update the House of Commons."