Keir Starmer has been accused of planning to sack Wes Streeting over alleged plotting to seize the Labour leadership from under him.
The Prime Minister is said to be eyeing a reshuffle that would demote the Health Secretary and return Angela Rayner to the fold, despite claims she too had designs on No10.
"We're hearing he wants to show strength and get shot of Wes,” a Labour source has suggested.
Both Mr Streeting and Ms Rayner have routinely rejected any suggestions that they were seeking to supplant Sir Keir, yet speculation has remained rampant ahead of the upcoming Gorton & Denton by-election, which is being held on February 26.
This reached fever pitch earlier this month, when the Prime Minister narrowly clung onto power amid intense renewed scrutiny over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.
The crisis saw Cabinet ministers lining up to profess their loyalty and Sir Keir engage in crunch talks with Labour MPs to preserve his premiership.
Party insiders have suggested he survived only because neither Mr Streeting nor Ms Rayner was prepared to launch a challenge, preferring instead to let him shoulder responsibility for any by-election loss and the upcoming May elections.
“Angela is likely to favour a push post May, while Streeting allies are talking up after Gorton as he knows he needs to get in before Angela is cleared,” a Labour rebel with close links to rival camps told GB News.
Keir Starmer is said to be plotting to sack Wes Streeting
|PA
This could suggest there are more robust plans in place, as another insider suggested notions put together during Sir Keir’s wobble were insufficient.
“MPs aren’t stupid,” a Labour source said.
“They’ve been organising their coups on the train down to Westminster, and that’s just not good enough to reassure MPs.”
To that end, sources suggested the Prime Minister was keen to firm up his authority with the shakeup of his Cabinet.
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The Prime Minister could also be ready to welcome Angela Ryaner back to the fold
| GETTYThe insider suggested that moves to return Mrs Rayer to favour would be to “curry favour with more Left-wing MPs”.
“He's always said he wants her back," they told the Daily Mail.
Labour MPs have reacted with alarm to the reported plans. One backbencher described the proposed shake-up as a "punishment beating disguised as a reshuffle”.
They suggested it could have been devised to divert attention from a possible by-election defeat.
Both Mr Streeting and Ms Rayner kept their powder dry as Sir Kier narrowly clung to power this month
|GETTY
A second MP cautioned that Sir Keir would be "quite mad" to dismiss Mr Streeting.
They argued that such a move would trigger the very leadership contest the Prime Minister narrowly avoided earlier this month.
Downing Street firmly rejected the claims on Saturday, with a No10 source dismissing suggestions the Prime Minister wanted to remove Mr Streeting as "utter nonsense" and "not the view of the PM or anyone in Number 10."
"Wes is doing a great job as Health Secretary, cutting waiting lists to their lowest level in three years," they stressed.
Meanwhile, critics have suggested his leadership prospects have been damaged by previous associations with Lord Mandelson, though he has denied that they were close friends.
On the other hand, Ms Rayner remains under HMRC investigation regarding approximately £40,000 in allegedly unpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 Hove property, which prompted her Cabinet resignation last year.
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