Sir Keir Starmer chaired a political Cabinet meeting as he sought to right his crisis-hit Government after surviving a day of “peril” to his premiership.
The Prime Minister agreed with his senior ministers to allow more “political” input into key Government decisions as he tried to unite his top team behind him after an eruption of Labour civil war.
He was also seeking to repair relations with Scottish leader Anas Sarwar after he called on him to resign.
On a visit to Hertfordshire, Sir Keir stressed that he would “never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country”.
His words are likely to be seen as a warning to senior Labour figures, including Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting, that he will fight any future attempts to oust him.
With the Gorton and Denton by-election on February 26 looming, the PM added: “The fight coming up in politics, the real fight is not in the Labour Party.
“It's with the right-wing politics that challenges that, the politics of Reform, the politics of divide, divide, divide, grievance, grievance, grievance.”
But Westminster was still reeling from the Labour infighting which left the PM fighting for political survival.
After Sir Keir chaired Cabinet, Baroness Chapman, a key ally of the PM, said: “As often happens with these meetings, the ones that are billed as the sort of big, High Noon moments, they often aren’t like that.
“The feeling of it was one of resolve to get on with our jobs, make decisions we need to make for the good of the country, get behind the Prime Minister, turn away from the prospect of any kind of instability and drama.”
She said the moment of “peril” facing the Prime Minister had passed after the Cabinet united behind him following Mr Sarwar’s resignation call.
But she stressed on BBC radio: “There needs to be a fight back.
“We are a Labour government with an agenda and a job to do.
“There are people who don’t want us to do that job, and we need to make sure that we get the decisions made that we need to get made.”
She added that Sir Keir and Mr Sarwar needed to “talk it out” to stabilise the party.
Earlier, allies of Sir Keir and Mr Streeting were urged by Cabinet minister Ed Miliband to stop briefing wars rocking the heart of Government.
The Net Zero Secretary issued the plea after Government sources accused Health Secretary Mr Streeting of being behind Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar calling for the Prime Minister to quit.
Mr Streeting’s allies hit back at the accusations, strongly denying them in an extraordinary day at Westminster which saw Sir Keir cling on as PM.
Asked if the briefing between camps should stop, Mr Miliband told BBC radio: “Yes, definitely.
“All of this is just total distraction and not what the country wants.
“The country wants us focused on them and the issues they face not who is up who is down.”
But as Sir Keir was scrambling to steady the Labour ship it was dealt a fresh blow by Mr Streeting saying in WhatsApp messages to Lord Mandelson that the Government had no economic growth strategy.
The Tories seized on the Health Secretary’s criticism of Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister on the central issue for the Government as it seeks to boost growth to fund better public services and to ease the nation’s cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Miliband rejected Mr Streeting’s views expressed to disgraced peer Lord Mandelson on the Government’s economic policy.
He told how backbench Labour MPs and the Cabinet had looked “over the precipice” in a moment of “peril” for the Prime Minister but had decided they did not want to trigger a leadership contest.
But as Sir Keir chaired Cabinet on Tuesday, the Government faced difficult questions over its economic blueprint for the UK after Mr Streeting suggested in a March 2025 WhatsApp message to Lord Mandelson that it had no “no growth strategy at all”.
The Health Secretary sought to resile from this remark, telling Sky News that he was “happy to have been proved wrong in terms of how I felt about the economy last year”, citing growth and falling interest rates.
But the Tories seized on his comment.
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride messaged on X: “Even Labour’s own Cabinet ministers know there’s no growth strategy.”
Mr Miliband was grilled on the morning media round on Mr Streeting’s comments about Labour having no growth plan, with Ms Reeves having hit businesses with hefty tax rises.
Asked whether he agreed with Mr Streeting, the Energy Secretary told Sky News: “I don’t agree with (him).
“We’ve seen the stability that is essential. We’ve seen investment.”
Mr Streeting also told Lord Mandelson how he fears losing his London seat at the next general election.
Amid the febrile atmosphere at Westminster, Mr Miliband ruled out running to be Labour leader for a second time if there is a contest which many Labour MPs expect after the May local elections, and for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
Mr Sarwar became the most senior Labour figure to call for Sir Keir to go, citing concern that the “distraction” from Downing Street would harm his party’s chances of unseating the SNP in May’s Holyrood elections.
But Sir Keir issued a defiant response at Monday night’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, telling a packed room in Westminster: “I’ve won every fight I’ve ever been in.”
The Prime Minister said he was “not prepared to walk away” as he received a warm reception from MPs reluctant to join Mr Sarwar in calling for him to quit.
The lack of a concerted effort by MPs to depose Sir Keir suggests the immediate danger may have passed.
The Prime Minister was expected to continue efforts to shake up his No 10 operation, with the country’s top civil servant Sir Chris Wormald rumoured to be on his way out in the coming days.
His chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allan have already departed as Sir Keir seeks to revive his fortunes after a bruising start to 2026.
