Last week could have been worse for Sir Keir Starmer, but only because he remains Prime Minister – for the time being. After the tawdry relationship between Lord Mandelson and the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein surged back into the headlines, Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, was forced to resign as a burnt offering. For a while it seemed as if Starmer’s tenure as leader of the Labour party had hours rather than days, weeks or months, left to run.

Labour MPs are understandably desperate. But they are losing touch with reality

Labour MPs are understandably desperate. But they are losing touch with reality

Survival is a basic human instinct. Although the Prime Minister navigated the perils of the week, then distracted himself by heading to the Munich Security Conference to find people who still treat him with respect, his position remains under extreme threat. A poor result for Labour in the Gorton and Denton by-election on 26 February would rekindle the flames of revolt; even more depends on its performance on 7 May, when elections will be held for the Scottish parliament, the Senedd, and six directly elected mayors and more than 4,000 seats in over a hundred English local authorities. If Labour receives an electoral mauling, many believe Starmer’s time will finally be up.

The Prime Minister’s mounting woes........

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