“Britain needs strong and decisive leadership”

Conservative Spring conference part 2

11/03/2026

Kemi Badenoch came to the stage in Harrogate on Saturday morning in front of a dedicated and enthusiastic crowd of conservative loyalists. She spoke for just less than forty minutes, using her speech to address the biggest problems facing the country today and to promise to deliver an improved conservative party to the electorate when they next face the ballot box. 

The first portion of her speech was mainly focused on the crisis in the middle east and the lack of readiness displayed by the government in responding to the developing conflict. Badenoch asserted that “we are in this war, whether Keir Starmer likes it or not”. When she delivered her speech it was by then known publicly that not only was the destroyer HMS Dragon not yet ready to sail to Cyprus, but that America had also requested use of British bases for limited defense purposes and was denied access by the Labour government - on March 2nd the decision changed and America as granted access to Diego Garcia and Fairford airbases. Another U-turn?

But she also highlighted (just as this page has) the fact that the conflict in Iran is not the only threat facing Britain, which the country is underprepared for. The government must also acknowledge the continuing threat from Vladimir Putin`s Russia which is staunchly loyal to the Iranian regime, offering Iranian leadership “unwavering support”. But, Kemi Badenoch also spoke on China and Xi Jinping “leading an axis of authoritarian states” each of whom has seen Britain's slow - some may argue weak- response and the lack of support we have shown our allies and must now be thinking how they can use this to further their own agenda. She is not incorrect in her assertion that this “era of peace is coming to an end” and perhaps this is something our labour government had not anticipated thus explaining their delay in action. 

Littered throughout her speech, unsuprisingly, were attacks on the current government and what she saw as “student politics” running the country. She framed herself as the only credible leader from any political party going into the next election. She claimed Starmer is a “political hostage”, Rachel Reeves “astonishingly naive” and that Reform as a whole are “not going to keep Britain safe”. Both Ed Davey and Zac Polanski were mentioned in passing with no real time spent on attacking their parties, perhaps indicating that the Conservatives do not see either party as a credible threat going into the local elections in May. 

From the point of view of an observer and not that of a party member I would say that much of what was in her speech was said to please the crowd. New initiatives were unveiled as applause points but no statistics or figures were given to support them. One example being the plan to employ 10,000 more police officers. There was no mention of a timeframe, no mention of where the 10,000 new recruits will be stationed. Are they going to be employed by the Met police and patrol across London where crime is rife, or will the rest of the country also see these new recruits to tackle the rising crime in their area. I fully support employing more police officers, but Badenoch did not mention the cost and what may be sacrificed to pay for this. Announcing this is easy, providing data or any further detail is hard.

One thing that did stand out to me throughout the conference and in the days leading up to it was the repeated mentions of Margaret Thatcher and indeed the photo opportunity for Kemi where she was able to further liken herself to the Iron Lady. On March 6th, the day before her conference speech she and Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge posed on a Boxer (armoured fighting vehicle) during a visit to an arms contractor in Stockport. The photo op gave Mrs Badenoch an opportunity to frame herself in the image of Margaret Thatcher, who was photographed riding a challenger tank in 1986 at a NATO base in West Germany. 

Further to this, during his speech Mel Stride affectionately referred to the former Prime Minister as `Maggie` telling the audience that she understood something that was later forgotten and evidently something the shadow chancellor and the leader of the opposition have in mind: “it is the private sector that drives prosperity, not government.” Earlier in his speech Stride insisted the Conservatives were the natural party of “makers and doers”,making it clear now, in their opinion the Conservatives are the best party to support entrepreneurship and industry. Further to this, on Kemi Badenoch`s website she published an essay Remembering Thatcher, at the end of which she wrote “Lady Thatcher`s legacy is my mission: to make Britain prosper again.” 

With these recurring references to the Iron Lady`s leadership and her style of policy I would suggest that under Kemi Badenoch`s leadership the Conservative party is aiming for a return to Thatcherism, or in this more modern and complex time, as close as they can get. 

Kemi Badenoch ended her address with some patriotism and some humour, praising the fact that “Britain is a great country”. Then she poked fun at those that had defected from the party, joking “I got my spring cleaning done early this year” which was succeeded by an eruption of laughter and more applause. But she also made it clear to her audience that in spite of the mistakes of the past, including those made by a government she was a part of, the party had changed and was ready to regain the trust of the electorate. 

“There is only one Conservative party, and that conservative party is back!”

Trust is everything

Conservative Party Spring Conference - part 1

08/03/2026

Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative party chairman was the first of three speakers on the second day of the Conservative spring conference in Harrogate. The two speakers that followed: Mel Stride and Kemi Badenoch. 

On Saturday morning I arrived ready for the second day of the conference to begin, only to find that I was 90 minutes early for the keynote speeches. The ticket sent out after purchasing the entrance to the conference stated arrival was 9am, a quick look at the programmes for the day made it clear that speeches were from 10:30am and prior to that teas and coffees were all that was on offer. 

So, with some time to kill I went for a quick reiki of the conference centre. In the main room that was to be used for speeches, Mel Stride was rehearsing his lines and how best to deliver them to the audience - which was to be rather small. 

Speaking to a staff member working at the facility I was told that only 500 people had booked tickets to attend across the three day event, whether everyone booked was present for the politicians speeches I am unsure. However, sitting in the auditorium when the conference began at 10:30 I do not believe that I was in the company of 500 people. 

Just before 10:30am the auditorium was buzzing with chatter. The media camp was positioned at the back close to the door with a clear view of the stage. I found my seat at the opposite end of the room surrounded by what appeared to be steadfastly loyal conservative party members, each eager and excited to hear what was going to be said across the next  two hours. 

It began with the national anthem, everyone standing and singing, barely in time with one another. Then Kevin Hollinrake, in my view working as a warm up act, stood and spoke at length about the mistakes made in the past by his party and the ambition the party has to be back in government, claiming “We can win again”.

Really, he did not deviate from the script the party has been using since they lost the general election. He said exactly what they think people want to hear. 

“We lost trust…trust is everything”.

At least five times in his speech alone `trust` was mentioned. It seemed that, if `change` had been the labour party mantra then was `trust` to become the mantra of the conservatives?

Mel Stride swiftly followed and immediately acknowledged how low his party had sunk and the amount of support they had lost. He told the audience that he “clung on by just 61 votes” in 2024 and how one of his constituents admitted in a supermarket car park that they would not vote for him because “I don`t even know who`s side you are on”. 

Throughout the rest of his speech Stride returned again and again to telling the audience who the conservatives were on the side of.

“We are on the side of the people who want to contribute”

In the week of the chancellor's spring statement, the shadow chancellor did use the conference as an additional opportunity to take aim at her capabilities. He criticised, as many have, the government spending on what is already becoming an “out of control welfare bill”, how Reeves is turning her back on the people that work to create wealth while incentivising not working. Why work when sitting at home pays more?

In the end, Stride wanted everyone to know “I get it…Rachel Reeves does not get it”. But can saying this to a minimal number of attendees at a spring conference really help boost the Conservative party's image nationally. The real test comes in May and after that the Conservatives may not exist in the form we have known for so long.

is conscription coming?

03/03/2026

Over the weekend, the US and Israel launched a series of strikes on Iran, ultimately killing Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the majority of high command in Iran. Allegedly, his son Mojtaba Khamenei has been selected as the new supreme leader, but at the time of writing, there has not been any official confirmation of this. 

Initially Keir Starmer ruled out becoming involved, stating that avoiding conflict in Iran was the “best way forward for the region”. Understandably the Prime Minister will be reluctant to take Britain into a new conflict in the Middle East with the shadow of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars forever behind us. Instead he vowed to provide support in the air with British Jets in the Gulf to detect and eliminate threats from Iranian missile strikes and by allowing the US to use British bases for a “limited defensive purpose”. 

However, after an Iranian drone strike on RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus it has now been decided that HMS Dragon will be sent to the Mediterranean country to protect civilians and military personnel who will now be considered Iranian targets. 

“The UK is fully committed to the security of Cyprus and the military personnel based there” - Keir Starmer. 

This new conflict that is quickly escalating across the Middle East does once more raise questions about Britain's capabilities of engaging in a full scale war as well as our preparedness for any eventual conflict. 

As of October 1st 2025, according to the Gov.uk website, the number of personnel in the armed forces is 182,070 and the number of trained reserves is 29,070.

This is broken down as: 

-Royal Navy/Royal Marines: 37,880

-Royal Air Force: 35,130

-Army; 109,060

In comparison, looking at the two nations leading the strikes against Iran their armed force are as follows:

The US has a total of approximately 1.3 million members of the military across six branches.

According to a CNN article published on 29th September 2024 Israel has an army of 126,000 (100,000 of which are conscripted), an air force of 34,000, a Navy of 9,500 and then an enormous number of reserves estimated to be 465,000 in total. 

On the opposing side of the conflict, Iran has the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) with approximately 150,000 ground troops and 20,000 in its Naval force. In addition the country also has the conventional military split across four branches and totalling approximately 420,000 personnel. 

Israel has also led strikes against Hezbollah (funded and trained by Iran) in Lebanon who military experts believe to have between 30,000 and 50,000 fighters. However, before his death in 2024, Lebanese leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah had more than 100,000 fighters.  

These figures alone should be worrying when looking at the scale of military opponents Britain may have to face alongside America and Israel. 

However, it is not only the conflict in the middle east we may be contending with. It should also be factored in that if the war between Russia and Ukraine escalates to involve more NATO member states (including Great Britain) and if Putin chooses to support Iran and Hezbollah militarily against the US and Israel then the UK risks lacking the manpower to be involved in two conflicts simultaneously. The prospect of conscription is undesirable but so too is the thought of our military torn across two conflicts and unable to adequately defend against the threat from either. 

Surely it is not a question of if but rather, when conscription will be introduced to support our existing troops in the growing threats across the globe.

Planting a flag in northern england

27.02.2026

A success in Gorton and Denton overnight for the Green party. Hannah Spencer was elected as MP for Gorton and Denton with 14,980 votes - a majority of 4402 against Reform`s Matt Goodwin who received 10,578 votes. 

Although it was the Green party that claimed victory, Reform UK chairman David Bull told LBC he was "absolutely delighted” with the result as the party are “learning all the time” and the chance to campaign in the Labour stronghold provided an opportunity for the party to engage more closely with voters. 

Speaking to GB News this morning, Matt Goodwin - visibly disappointed with the result - echoed Bull`s sentiment by insisting “we can do this everywhere” and that Reform are now “in Labour's backyard”. 

Gorton and Denton was a Labour safe seat, now the Green party will surely believe that in the next election it will be a safe seat for the Greens. Indeed the Greens, still celebrating their historic win, will assume that one by-election result will indicate nationwide success in the next general election. 

“This really opens the door to a huge potential for…local elections coming up this may and the next General election” - Green MP Carla Denyer

However, if the next general election isn't until 2029 then much could change, Starmer could offer up another U-turn in the form of his resignation as leader of the Labour party. If this were to happen then Labour could reclaim a large proportion of votes that they for now have lost to the Green party.

Had the NEC not blocked Andy Burnham`s bid to be nominated for the Gorton and Denton seat then it is likely to have been a Labour success. Burnham could have stood in the constituency as an independent MP and he would likely have taken the seat. But he didn`t (almost certainly because he had ambitions of holding higher office than that of just an independent MP) and so those constituents that had hopes of a Burnham MP held Starmer and the Labour party in contempt which in turn culminated in protest votes against Labour in favour of Reform UK and predominantly Zac Polanski`s Green party. 

Ultimately the by-election result has been a huge embarrassment for Labour who received only 9,364 votes and had to concede victory first and foremost to the Green party, but also to Reform UK who have climbed in the polls in this constituency to gain 14.7% of the share of votes to in total receive 28.7% of total votes, while Labour had a share change of -25.3% and received 25.4% of the total vote. As is generally the case in a by-election, the voter turnout was less than that expected of a General election, just 47.5%. 

Labour now has just nine weeks to change strategy in time for the local elections.

Nigel Farage has already suggested that the Conservatives will be facing a “wipe out” in Scotland in May at the local elections. If they fail to learn from their mistakes and do not recognise the disconnect between the party and the people then Labour too will be looking at sobering losses to both Reform and the Greens.

A divided right

24/02/2026

In two days the Gorton and Denton by-election takes place and the competition between Reform UK and the Green Party is fierce. However, while Reform have been promoting their policies and canvassing with candidate Matt Goodwin, Rupert Lowe has gained momentum with the Restore Britain party. On February 13th Lowe announced that Restore Britain would be a national party and as on February 24th the party now has over 90,000 members.

“We can absolutely win the next election” - Rupert Lowe

This week Reform UK did hold a press conference in Dover where Zia Yusuf outlined the party's plan to protect Britain's border. One policy being, anyone entering the country illegally “will receive a lifetime ban” and those re-entering after being removed from the country will then result in a punishment of up to five years in prison. 

A quick scroll through Zia Yusuf ` s social media reveals the support that Restore Britain has. A quick scroll through the comments section of a reel posted earlier in the week reveals the support growing for Restore Britain. One person commented under Yusuf's post addressing the Reform plan for deportation flights, “Restore Britain is the only way now”. This again can be seen on a recent post by podcast Triggernometry, in which they asked followers of the podcast who they would vote for should Britain have a general election tomorrow. The result was overwhelmingly in support of Restore Britain and Rupert Lowe. As of today the post had received 680 comments, the majority of which were in favour of voting for Restore Britain 

Although Reform is generally the party to gain more members, councillors and Mp`s through defections, it is now Reform who are seeing the defections. This time the defectors are leaving Reform rather than joining and their new political home is Restore Britain. On February 17th seven reform councillors for Kent county council made the decision to join Restore Britain and leave Reform UK. Their defections will in turn create the first official Restore Britain group on the council. 

Perhaps this is the time for Farage to recognise the legitimacy of the threat posed by Rupert Lowe rather than dismissing his influence, stating “[Lowe] won ` t be on 1% anywhere” and that any poll suggesting otherwise is “utter rot”. 

Lowe` s party is climbing in the polls. Though it was only recent weeks that it was announced to be a national party, it has now reached 7% in certain polls (Reform are still well ahead with 25% as are the Conservatives who have 16%) and are projected to gain 100,000 members in the coming days. Surely this is the clear sign that the Conservatives' reign over the right is over and the vote will be split between Reform UK and Restore Britain. 

Nodoby is above the law

20/02/2026

During a breakfast raid at Wood farm on the Sandringham estate on his birthday, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. This news comes almost three weeks after the department of justice released 3 million documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein. 

The release of the files has helped to shed light on the extent of Andrew`s relationship with the paedophile financier and in turn has also revealed how he abused his position of trade envoy to share privileged information with Epstein. This it seems is the basis of the arrest today by Thames Valley Police. 

Nothing should take focus from the horrific abuse endured by the women and girls harmed by Epstein, and yet yesterdays events once more draw the conversation away from the victims and towards a man who has spent his entire life wrapped in privilege. Again, the former prince has become the centre of their story.

During an interview recorded and aired prior to the events at Wood farm today, Prime minister Keir Starmer was grilled by BBC journalist Naga Muchnetty on whether Andrew should voluntarily make himself available to the police for questioning. In an effort to not give a definitive answer, as is always the case with most politicians, Starmer tried to maintain that it was “a matter for the police” to conduct their own investigations. However, in the end he said what every rational person watching the developments in the last few weeks has been thinking: “Nobody is above the law” and therefore anyone involved or aware of the abuse perpetrated by Epstein should be held accountable. 

Our prime ministers words should be a firm warning to the other prominent figures whose relationships with Epstein and now under scrutiny.  

A new Shadow Cabinet

On Tuesday - following a rally on Monday in  Andrew Rosindell' s constituency of Romford - Nigel Farage unveiled the Reform UK shadow cabinet, or at least the first part of their shadow cabinet. 

Robert Jenrick takes the coveted role of shadow Chancellor which for some time was expected to be taken by Zia Yusuf or Richard Tice. Instead Yusuf is to be the shadow Home Secretary and Tice will become the shadow Secretary of State for Business, trade and energy. 

“We’re all delighted” - Richard Tice

Suella Braverman, whom Nigel Farage has praised for having “absolute determination in politics” has been appointed shadow secretary of state for education, skills and equality. Her first act in post in government: scrap the department for equality, scrap the equalities minister and move to repeal the equality act. 

“DEI has become less about diversity and more about conforming to left wing ideology” - Suella Braverman

No one could argue that Suella Braverman lacks the courage of her convictions. In the last 3 weeks she has abandoned the political party she had been a member of for 30 years in favour of Reform UK and now she has unveiled her dramatic policy plan she intents to roll out should Reform form the next government. 

Many who have listened to her speech will undoubtedly be concerned by her plan to repeal the equality act and wondered what impact this may have on the characteristics it was designed to protect: Sex, race, disability. Will she repeal the act and return to the original legislation of the Sex discrimination act 1975, Race relations act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995?

Currently Braverman has not publicly expanded on her plan and explained what if any legislation would replace the repealed act. For now this will be an issue that keeps some potential Reform voters at arms length and something they will surely have to flesh out in more detail before May 7th. 

change

17/02/2026

In preparation for the 2024 general election the Labour party mantra became `change`. Something they promised to deliver after what Keir Starmer deemed to be years of Conservative corruption and cronyism. 

 “sleaze, sleaze, sleaze” - Keir Starmer, April 21st 2021.

Starmer has helped the labour party become one of change. With more than a dozen U-turns under their belt, labour can do nothing but change, and as the Prime Minister insists he will still be leader at the next general election, the British people shouldn`t have to wait too long for yet another about turn to be announced. 

It was recently reported that former director of think tank Labour Together and now sitting MP Josh Simmons had orchestrated a smear campaign against journalists to establish their “motivations”, presumably seeing them and their work as a threat to the Labour party. Mr Simmons is now being investigated by the cabinet office, whilst being in post within the cabinet office. The MP for Makerfield` s official title is: Under Secretary of State in Department for Science, Innovation and technology. However, it should be noted that he is only in post to cover the maternity leave of MP Satvir Kaur. 

A quick search on the gov.uk website  provides most of this information, including the fact that the minister's main role is implementing the rollout of the Digital identity programme. As of January 14th the Government scrapped plans to make the digital ID mandatory for the right to work. If the proposed policy has been scrapped then why have a minister dedicated to the rollout of this system?

On January 23rd Conservative MP Andrew Snowden raised the question in the commons to Mr Simmons as to “what` s plan C” for dealing with illegal migration now that the digital ID policy had been scrapped. To the astonishment of the few in the house, Mr Simmons delivered the verdict that “It hasn`t” been U-turned on and that it was in fact still “a vital part” in toughening up on the “illegal labour market enforcement regime”. Clearly the digital ID is something the current labour party, perhaps propelled by Tony Blair, is not willing to abandon altogether. 

Between February 26th and 28th 2025, Labour Together conducted a poll of 1912 adults to determine the favourability of a possible digital ID. The official results posted to the Labour Together website indicate that the 1912 people polled on this topic were told that the ID, digital or otherwise, would be "compulsory for everyone living in the UK to use”. The polling indicated that it was generally supported. However, 12% of people stated that they did not believe there were any benefits to having a digital ID, while 40% were worried that the information would be misused by the government. 

Strangely, even though Labour together conducted this poll in February 2025, it was not announced by the Prime minister as a serious policy until September 2025, after which there was a huge amount of public backlash against this policy. The vitriol nationwide was so strong that a petition against the introduction of Digital ID quickly surpassed 1 million signatures and by the time the petition closed it had reached  2,984,193 signatures. However,in February 2025, the government had already launched a Digital inclusion action plan to assess who may be excluded by the use of a digital ID and as of February 26th 2025, the Data (use and access) bill had concluded passage through the House of Lords. So by October 2nd 2025 the government had a prepared response to the petition: “We will introduce a digital ID within this Parliament to help tackle illegal migration, make accessing government services easier, and enable wider efficiencies. We will consult on details soon.”

From this it seems that not only is Starmer` s government being heavily swayed on policy matters by Labour together, but that it is also determined to unleash a policy that is majorly flawed and completely unpopular across the UK. So, no matter what is being said publicly to regain the appeal of its voters, Labour is intent on forcing us into the use of an identification system that could cause more harm than it will ever be worth. 

The absurdities of being green

13/02/2026

The absurdities of being Green 

In two weeks time the results of the Gorton and Denton by-election will have been unveiled, and, no matter your political persuasion, it has to be acknowledged that there are really only two parties in this fight: Reform and The green party. 

The latter, under leader Zack Polanski, has remained in the headlines almost daily since the by-election was announced to take place on February 26th. 

Polanski, a native of greater Manchester, has surprisingly opted not to stand in this election. Although this not too long ago was a labour stronghold, the Greens appear to be sweeping up support from constituents that would previously voted Labour had the NEC not blocked Andy Burnham from standing in this election. Instead, the candidate the Green party has selected is Hannah Spencer, a 34 year old plumber and Green Party councillor who intends to beat Reform candidate Matt Goodwin through “hope v hate”. 

Hope is a key feature in any Green Party communication. Their 2024 election campaign signs declared that they were the party of “Real hope.” and “real change”. They now have 4 MP`s elected to Parliament, Zack Polanski is not one of them. 

Any potential voter may look to The Greens mantra of hope and question if they will say anything else or should we all just hope to see any well thought out policies before February 26th. So far the biggest talking point from the Green Party is their decision to back the legalisation of all drugs - including heroin and cocaine. Polanski recently admitted on Laura Kuenssberg`s BBC programme that he had never taken any drugs himself, but still wholly supported the legalisation of any and all class A drugs, insisting later that drug taking and any policy concerning it should be “led by public health experts, not politicians”.

When looking through the Green Party 2024 election manifesto there fails to be any mention of the plan to introduce legislation to legalise drugs. Instead the manifesto - which resembles more closely a children's picture book and not a serious political party document - is filled with statements on “what we will do” but not how they aim to achieve any of these policies. 

One example of this being their vow to “tax people who fly a lot” but there is no expansion on this. What is the threshold for “a lot” of flights? More than one? And what new data capturing system would the green party introduce to track how many flights each person took before they reached this illusive figure that would see them paying more tax?

For the Greens, the 2024 general election result was the best that had ever achieved. They had a total vote share of 6.7% which in turn put Sian Berry MP , Ellie Chowns MP, Carla Denyer MP and Adrian Ramsay MP in Parliament. Nationwide, in the 19 months since the general election their popularity has risen again and according to a YouGov poll on Voting intention updated on February 9th, the Greens would receive 16% of the vote share.  Reform, however, are still leading in the polls with 27% of the expected vote share.

For now it seems that in spite of their lack of realistic policies, the Greens are still managing to capture the public's attention. Whether this is due to a true support of their political ideas or a desire to diminish Labour`` s integrity in a protest vote, will likely not mater to the Green Party if it means a chance to gain a fifth seat in Parliament. Their core supporters will maintain steadfastly that they are the best party to govern the country, but this claims legitimacy will hinge on the results of the Gorton and Denton by-election, and from there the local elections on May 7th. 

lABOUR PSYCHODRAMA

10/02/2026

Psychodrama. A word that has, in recent weeks, become synonymous with Kemi Badenoch and her floundering Conservative party can now be more accurately attributed to the antics of Keir Starmer and the labour party. 

Since the start of year both top dogs in politics have suffered from public disinterest and infighting between their own MP`s. Kemi has lost three strong political `allies` to Nigel Farage and Reform. She previously declared to Sky News she was “one hundred percent confident” there would be no more defections after Robert Jenrick, as the Conservatives were “a strong and united team” without him. But now with Suella Braverman and Andrew Rosindell also departing the Conservatives for Reform, Kemi Badenoch (with egg on her face) must try to maintain the support of party members and MP`s who may be looking to Reform and the prominent new members that now reside there. 

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer was given another chance to save his political career with Morgan McSweeney, acting as scapegoat, offering up his resignation and followed shortly after by director of communication Tim Allen. The Downing Street chief of staff is said to have pushed for Mandelson to be given the position of US Ambassador despite being known to have links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, while Allen resigned to “allow a new No10 team to be built”. Now with his right hand man gone and the vultures circling it should be an interesting test of the Prime Minister's political chops as to whether he can survive in post until the next general election, and indeed how soon that election will take place

One must question how much longer he is destined for public office. Public dissatisfaction with his leadership is growing after the Mandelson/Epstein calamity and now there appears to be a growing queue of current and former cabinet members that are ready to fight it out for the chance to grasp the poisoned chalice that Starmer currently possesses.

During PMQ`s on February 4th, Angela Rayner joined the revolt by the labour backbenchers in calling for Starmer to hand over the release of the files relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson to the Intelligence and Security Committee to ensure “public confidence in the process”, thus taking away control of these files from Downing street. In the end the backbenchers won and the amendment was passed in Parliament adding to Starmers embarrassing number of U turns. 

Worse still for Starmer, David Lammy distanced himself from his Prime Minister, insisting that he did not support Peter Mandelson`s appointment as US Ambassador. 

The third thorn in the Prime Minister side: Wes Streeting, in yet another bid to place himself in the public eye has today released private messages he had sent to Peter Mandelson. In sharing these messages Wes Streeting has made headlines…for all the wrong reasons. Seemingly he hoped to appear transparent, but now he seems foolish, and if anything closer to Mandelson than anyone had previously realised. On July 24th 2025 at 11pm Streeting contacted Mandelson to “check in” on recognising a Palestinian state and how this would impact domestic politics. Is this not something he could and should have been asking his Prime Minister?

Now to tackle any further dissent, Downing Street has briefed its cabinet ministers that they should not publish any personal messages they may have had with Mr Mandelson. Perhaps, blinded by his own personal ambitions, Streeting did not see how terribly his actions would backfire and that in adding distance between himself and his leader he has in turn put a target on his own back. 

Still, through all of the chaos, we can see how the “Prince of Darkness” powerfully influenced Labour politicians, this time to the detriment of the Prime Minister.