Shorouk Express
Starmer faces factional battle within party
Sir Keir Starmer now faces the prospect of a party conference dominated by manoeuvring for the deputy leadership spot left vacant by Angela Rayner.
Few MPs were willing to discuss potential candidates for the contest late on Friday, suggesting it was too soon after the reshuffle.
But the election could prove tricky for the Prime Minister, with some already touting it as a factional battle and a referendum on his leadership.
The centrist Labour First group warned its supporters on Friday that “the left of the party will already be mobilising for this contest, seeking to reclaim influence and steer the party away from the strategy that won us a landslide victory in 2024”.
Meanwhile, left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon has already cautioned against the race to replace the deputy leader becoming a “stitch-up”.
Alex Ross6 September 2025 04:30
Richard Tice stumbles in grilling over Keir Starmer and Kim Jong Un comparison
Richard Tice stumbles in grilling over Starmer and Kim Jong Un comparison
Richard Tice fumbled his words as he was grilled on why Sir Keir Starmer was like Kim Jong Un after both the deputy Reform UK leader and Nigel Farage compared the UK to North Korea. Appearing on BBC Radio 4 on Friday (5 September), Mr Tice was repeatedly questioned by Nick Robinson on the comparison and said that Sir Keir is “authoritarian”. After he was asked whether Sir Keir was like Kim for a third time, Mr Tice said that it is “good to use anecdotes and analogies at times”. Mr Robinson fired back, calling it “offensive” to compare the prime minister to “one of the worst autocrats on the planet”. Mr Tice said “what is really offensive” is punishing those who are “concerned about illegal immigration”.
Tom Watling6 September 2025 04:01
How did Angela Rayner manage to underpay stamp duty? A legal expert explains
Tom Watling6 September 2025 03:07
Farage predicts 2027 general election in warning over Labour ‘rift’
Farage predicts 2027 general election in warning over Labour ‘rift’
Nigel Farage said he thinks there is “every chance now of a general election happening in 2027” as he addressed Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham shortly after Angela Rayner resigned on Friday, 5 September. The Reform leader warned of a “big rift” in Labour and told attendees in a keynote speech: “Before long, there’ll be Labour MPs that reckon they’ve got a better chance on the Jeremy Corbyn sectarian ticket … they’ve got a better chance of being re-elected under that ticket, under Corbyn, than they do under Sir Keir.” His comments came following the deputy prime minister’s announcement that she would step down after ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found that she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Tom Watling6 September 2025 02:01
Andrea Jenkyns belts out own song in bizarre Reform conference entrance
Andrea Jenkyns belts out own song in bizarre Reform conference entrance
Dame Andrea Jenkyns walked onstage at the Reform UK conference, belting out a song entitled “Insomniac” that she said she wrote. The mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, walked onstage at the party’s two-day conference at Birmingham’s NEC on Friday (5 September) in a sparkly jumpsuit before breaking into song. She said: “Are this awful Labour government giving you sleepless nights as well?,” adding that she co-wrote the song 20 years ago with a friend. Dame Andrea’s website says she is a soprano who has been singing since her childhood.
Tom Watling6 September 2025 01:04
Rayner’s resignation shows this government is worse than the last, Farage declares in Reform conference speech
Tom Watling6 September 2025 00:00
Scottish Labour leader thanks Murray for ‘service’
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has thanked the outgoing Scotland minister Ian Murray for his “service”.
Tom Watling5 September 2025 23:15
Jones speaks out after new cabinet appointment
Tom Watling5 September 2025 22:44
Reform football shirts go on sale at party’s 2025 conference
Tom Watling5 September 2025 22:16
Mahmood to deliver ‘tough message’ on immigration, report claims
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood will deliver a “tough message” on immigration as she looks to regain control of the narrative following a summer of unrest, sources have claimed.
The former justice minister took over from Yvette Cooper today after the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner triggered a major cabinet reshuffle from Sir Keir Starmer.
Sources have told The Telegraph that Ms Mahmood is expected to take a more hardline approach to the small boat crossings than her predecessor.
“She has coped with the prison crisis pretty well without a drastic kind of backlash. Now it’s about getting Shabana in that position to try to claw back some of the ground that Labour has lost on immigration,” said a source.
“She will be able to deliver some tough messages around immigration because of her Pakistani heritage, which Yvette Cooper might have found much harder.”
Tom Watling5 September 2025 22:06
