Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing intensifying pressure inside Labour after fresh evidence in the Peter Mandelson vetting affair reignited questions over his judgement, with more senior figures due before MPs on Tuesday and party nerves rising ahead of elections on 7 May.
The renewed pressure followed Starmer’s Commons statement on 20 April, when he said he had learned only on 14 April that UK Security Vetting had recommended in January 2025 that Mandelson be refused developed vetting, a high level of security clearance. “I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson,” Starmer told MPs, adding that he would not have gone ahead had he known of the recommendation at the time.
Starmer said Mandelson answered Downing Street due diligence questions on 10 December 2024, that the appointment was announced on 20 December and that security vetting began on 23 December. UK Security Vetting recommended on 28 January 2025 that clearance be denied, but Foreign Office officials granted it the following day. Starmer said that power has since been suspended.
He also said Mandelson was later dismissed after reporting in September 2025 made clear that answers given during the due diligence process had not been truthful, prompting changes so future direct ministerial appointments would not be announced before vetting was complete.
The political damage deepened on 21 April when Sir Olly Robbins, the former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, told the Foreign Affairs Committee there had been a “generally dismissive attitude” to the vetting process and “constant pressure” from Downing Street and private offices to get Mandelson to Washington quickly. Robbins said the focus appeared to be not whether Mandelson would be cleared, but when.
Further questions have centred on why Starmer was not told sooner. Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little told MPs on 23 April that she became aware of the key document on 25 March and informed the prime minister on 14 April, after seeking legal, policy and propriety advice. That gap has opened another line of attack for critics and left Labour MPs waiting for more evidence.
Fresh testimony is due on 28 April, when Sir Philip Barton is scheduled to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee at 9am, followed by Starmer’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, at 11am.
Against that backdrop, Sky News reported in an analysis piece on Friday that Labour’s private conversation had shifted from whether Starmer was vulnerable to how and when he might eventually be replaced if the party suffers heavy losses next month. Sky said Starmer’s team had met at Chequers on 24 April to plan for the weeks ahead, but it also reported there was no agreed successor and no organised leadership bid.
The broadcaster said figures being discussed in different parts of the party included Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Leader of the House Lucy Powell and Defence Secretary John Healey. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has also been repeatedly mentioned, although Labour’s rules require leadership candidates to be sitting MPs and to secure nominations from 20 per cent of Labour MPs, which would prevent him from entering a contest in his current role.
Labour’s anxiety has been sharpened by a run of poor electoral and polling signals. In February, the party lost the Gorton and Denton by-election to the Greens and fell to third place behind Reform UK. An Ipsos poll conducted between 9 and 15 April put Reform on 25 per cent, Labour on 19 per cent and the Conservatives also on 19 per cent, with Starmer recording a net satisfaction rating of minus 56.
The next test comes on 7 May, when voters go to the polls in local elections in England, the Scottish Parliament election and the Senedd election in Wales. Those contests are widely seen inside Labour as the next major measure of whether the Mandelson affair has become a broader threat to Starmer’s position.
Starmer has tried to contain the row by apologising over the appointment while insisting he was not told the decisive security recommendation in time. Speaking on Sunday, he said there had been only the “everyday pressure of Government” over Mandelson’s clearance and insisted the “vast majority” of Labour MPs still backed him.
For now, there is no formal challenge and Labour’s leadership rules make a swift, orderly move difficult. But with another round of committee evidence due within days, weak polling and elections looming, pressure on the prime minister is growing rather than easing.
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