Sir Keir Starmer has been lambasted for showing his "thin skin" after whipping Labour MPs into blocking a sleaze probe into his handling of the Lord Peter Mandelson scandal.
Speaking to GB News, Conservative MP Esther McVey hit out at Sir Keir after the Prime Minister saw off a Commons vote to hold a privileges committee investigation, declaring he is "losing the respect" of his MPs.
A total of 335 MPs voted against the sleaze probe, while 223 members voted in favour.
Some 15 Labour MPs rebelled against the whip, including Emma Lewell, declared she would not be "complicit in a cover-up".
Reacting to the outcome of the vote, Ms McVey told GB News that the Prime Minister made a "big mistake" in making the vote a whipped one.
She said: "I think Starmer's made a big mistake making this a whipped vote. It wasn't political, this is something which is a discipline issue, a House issue.
"He's bred more unhappiness within his own party. I think he's out, his days are numbered."
The Tory MP argued that Sir Keir has "revealed a lot about himself" in the way he has conducted the vote.
Esther McVey has hit out at Keir Starmer and his 'thin skin' after whipping MPs to block a sleaze probe
|PA / GB NEWS
She added: "Now it's like death by 1000 cuts, and I think he's cowardly by not facing the music.
"He's losing the respect of his own party, and he's revealed a lot about himself, that he's thin skinned and that he's vain."
Ms McVey suggested that Sir Keir could have taken a more "moral stance" and referred himself to the committee, rather than allowing it to go to a vote.
She explained: "I think he could have got ahead of the problem by saying, 'do you know what, I didn't do anything wrong because now all we're talking about is Mandelson. We're taking up hours and hours of time'.
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MPs voted to block an investigation into Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson scandal
|PARLIAMENT TV
"'I can't govern the country, we can't get through this in parliament, so do you know what? I am gonna refer myself to the privilege committee, because I've got nothing to hide'.
"I think he could have made a sort of more of a moral stance on that. I think people would have had more respect for him, but no, he didn't."
Following the vote, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch declared that "disgraceful" Labour MPs will "rue the day" they voted to block the sleaze probe.
She said: "To save his own skin, Keir Starmer threatened his MPs with the loss of their jobs unless they helped cover up his misleading statements to Parliament.
Ms McVey said that Keir Starmer should have 'referred himself' to the committee
|GB NEWS
"It is a disgrace that 333 Labour MPs chose to be complicit in that cover up. This is a Government coming apart at the seams
"Labour MPs will rue the day that they voted against this motion, because it is the day that people saw they believe there’s one rule for Labour and another for everyone else."
A No10 spokesman had previously told GB News that the vote was a "desperate political stunt".
"The Government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelson’s appointment with full transparency," the spokesman said.
"This is a desperate political stunt by the Conservative Party the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS. Their claims have no substance."