A fresh Mandelson headache is on the horizon - and it could hand the PM his P45
Ellie Costello and Alex Armstrong discuss the latest developments in the Keir Starmer psychodrama
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A large tranche of the Peter Mandelson files yet to come could shed a less-than-glowing light on the PM, writes Fleet Street's longest-serving political editor
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Cats have nine lives, and if they were measured in terms of prime ministers, spare a thought for Larry. He must be wondering whether he will soon be on his seventh.
That makes the Downing Street moggie a pensioner. How he must wish he had a triple lock on the No10 door to prevent another PM from escaping.
Larry was brought in by David Cameron from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in 2011 and given the official title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. Like his masters, Larry was not great at the job.
Cameron lost his for thinking a misguided referendum would go his way, and Brexit would never happen, and Theresa May was canned for failing to make it work.
Boris Johnson’s downfall began with lockdown parties; Liz Truss went swiftly because she was useless; and Rishi Sunak was out when he was left with too many broken pieces from the others for one man to pick up.
Larry observed all these events through sleepy eyes and, as an insider, is better placed than the rest of us to work out what might happen next. And he will be praying the next PM isn’t allergic to cats.
I’d have asked him for an analysis myself as we have been on nodding terms for years, but I don’t speak feline and, besides, Larry can be a bad-tempered brute at times.
The police on Downing Street duty try to keep him sweet with copious packs of Dreamies in their pockets. But I’m sure Larry would tell you that Keir Starmer's troubles remind him of Boris Johnson’s exit in July, 2022.
BoJo did not go because of partygate revelations, although that was the start, nor, as those with bad memories like to claim, over a piece of cake.
Neither was becoming the first PM in British history to get a police fine enough to get him turfed out. The last straw was Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher indulging in drunken sexual shenanigans in a London club in June, 2022. That's what did for him.
It became apparent that Boris had promoted him to the post four months earlier, knowing of similar previous complaints. Ministers quit in droves, and BoJo was shafted.
Keir Starmer now needs only one more slip-up to go the same way. Disastrous elections put him in the partygate phase of his premiership. A Pincher moment would finish him.

A fresh Mandelson headache is on the horizon - and it could hand the PM his P45 - Nigel Nelson
|Getty Images
That is not to suggest that a Labour whip will be caught with his hand on another gentleman’s trousers. But there is a large tranche of the Peter Mandelson files yet to come.
And should they shed a less-than-glowing light on the PM’s handling of the Washington ambassador’s appointment, that might be enough for a P45.
Today's King's Speech may not change the dial, despite 35 bills including more nuclear power stations, nationalising British Steel, abolishing NHS England and (another) crackdown on immigration, which newly emboldened rebel MPs will try to block.
But it is looking less likely - though not impossible - that a divided Parliamentary Labour Party will get its act together for a leadership challenge.
More than 100 MPs have gone public to say they don’t want one, and the 90 or so who do cannot agree on the timing.
That’s because they cannot agree on a candidate. Those who favour Health Secretary Wes Streeting or former deputy PM Angela Rayner want a quick contest.
Those backing Andy Burnham are demanding a slow one to give the Manchester mayor time to find his way back into the Commons to be able to stand.
Chances are that if there were a new leader now, Andy Burnham would challenge him at a later date, and Labour could start changing PMs as fast as the Tories did.
So, unless and until Cabinet ministers start resigning, Keir Starmer stays put. Though he knows that if he ever did have nine political lives, he is now down to his last.







