Kemi Badenoch brutally mocked Keir Starmer as a ‘caretaker’ leader today in brutal PMQs clashes.
The Tory leader ridiculed Sir Keir over Labour plotting amid mounting speculation about his future.
She joked that Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband wanted to ‘recycle’ himself into the top job, despite stewarding the party to dismal defeat in 2015.
Doubts have been mounting about the PM’s prospects of survival, with even the Labour Together think-tank that propelled him to power quietly asking local parties for views on a successor.
Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting have been at the centre of a frenzy of rumours about jockeying to succeed Sir Keir.
Kemi Badenoch ridiculed Keir Starmer over Labour plotting amid mounting speculation about his future
Mrs Badenoch joked that Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband wanted to ‘recycle’ himself into the top job, despite stewarding the party to dismal defeat in 2015
But allies have suggested the former deputy PM would ‘rather stick pins in her eyes’ than lining up behind Mr Streeting on a ‘dream ticket’.
One said that Ms Rayner, who was forced out in the summer by a scandal over £40,000 of unpaid stamp duty on a holiday home purchase, was more likely to stand against Mr Streeting.
And another told the Times that Ms Rayner was ‘no one’s pawn’. ‘The idea that she can just be moved about the chessboard at someone else’s will is rubbish.’
Punching the bruise at PMQs, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Can he tell the House why his own MPs are describing him as a ”caretaker Prime Minister?”’
Sir Keir replied: ‘My own MPs are very proud.
‘We’ve just passed a Budget which protected our public services and our NHS. No austerity, which brought our NHS to the ground.
‘We created the conditions for economic stability with the headroom we need.’
He insisted the Government was concentrating on what matters to the public, including tackling the cost of living.
But Mrs Badenoch persisted: ‘He’s being called a caretaker, because everyone can see that he’s lost control of his party.
‘We all know that this lot are so busy trying to replace him that they’ve taken their eyes off the ball.’
She goaded the premier that he has failed to keep the election promise to bring down energy bills, and pointed out that teacher numbers have fallen.
At the weekend it was revealed that Ilford North MP Mr Streeting wanted Ms Rayner to join him in a pact that would allow a smooth succession if Sir Keir is booted out over horrific poll numbers.
Sir Keir has publicly said he wants Ms Rayner (pictured earlier this week) to return to Cabinet despite resigning over underpaying tax in September
But she is said to be eying the top job herself, suggesting that a period of internecine warfare is likely if the PM does stand down.
It was also revealed that Ms Rayner turned down a major six-figure offer to take part in I’m A Celebrity get Me Out of Here!
They said she was approached by ITV after she quit in September and the cash involved dwarfed the £400,000 paid to former Tory health secretary Matt Hancock in 2022.
Sir Keir has publicly said he wants Ms Rayner to return to Cabinet despite resigning over underpaying tax in September.
