It is extraordinary that Labour MPs are contemplating replacing their leader within 18 months of winning a landslide general election victory, a moment supposed to inaugurate years of stability and renewal. It is downright bizarre that the origin of a sudden surge in speculation about Sir Keir Starmer’s future is briefings by loyalists based in Downing Street.

The prime minister’s allies must have imagined they were serving his interests by flushing potential rivals – Wes Streeting, the health secretary, being the most prominent – out of the shadows. Forcing someone’s hand before it is ready to strike is a familiar move in the playbook of factional politics.

Sir Keir’s praetorian guard appears not to have considered the destructive consequences for the government of provoking days of speculation and counter-briefing about the inadequacy........

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