The Tories took years of Westminster turmoil to reach their Liz Truss moment. It has taken Labour only two. Britain has a weakened prime minister, a fatally divided government and a shambolic House of Commons. No one beyond Keir Starmer’s looming rivals can seriously believe the cure lies in his immediate toppling.
There is no leader in waiting obviously superior to Starmer, certainly not his former health secretary, Wes Streeting. Out of naked ambition, he has ditched a critical job in an extraordinary display of cabinet nastiness. As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, suggests, the effect of a leadership change on the economy could be severe. Yet Westminster’s corridors are bubbling and seething, close to explosion. Something is very wrong with British politics.
