Labour is edging closer to implosion following its bruising local election results and increasingly bitter divisions over Brexit.
For months, speculation has swirled around Keir Starmer’s future and whether a poor set of election results could eventually trigger a leadership challenge. Now those fears have been realised, tensions between rival camps are escalating rapidly, with allies of potential successors openly clashing over the direction Labour should take next.
Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham have both effectively thrown their hats into the ring for a possible future leadership contest. But their supporters have been accused by deputy prime minister David Lammy of “lighting a match and standing in the petrol” as divisions threaten to consume the party.
Senior Labour figures have also warned that prolonged infighting risks making the government appear chaotic and distracted while Nigel Farage and Reform UK continue to gain ground nationally.
The latest flashpoint came after Streeting reignited the Brexit debate by describing leaving the EU as a “catastrophic mistake” and signalling he would ultimately like Britain to rebuild a much closer relationship with Europe.
The comments sparked fury among Burnham allies, who accused the former health secretary of reopening old divisions and handing ammunition to Reform ahead of the crucial Makerfield by-election, where Burnham hopes to return to parliament.
Meanwhile, rumours about former deputy PM Angela Rayner’s ambitions have been circling since she was forced to resign from Sir Keir’s cabinet last September, after it emerged that she had underpaid stamp duty on her Brighton flat.
With Labour increasingly divided over both policy and personality, we want to know who Independent readers believe should lead the party into the next general election.
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