London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner return questionnaires to Durham police

Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner return questionnaires to Durham police

Labour leader and deputy have promised to resign if found to have breached Covid rules by eating curry and drinking beer at event
Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have returned questionnaires to Durham constabulary, giving their account of a gathering during last year’s local election campaign, the Labour party has confirmed.

The pair have both promised to resign if they are found to have breached Covid rules by eating a curry and drinking a beer at the event, which was caught on camera.

Starmer has repeatedly said he is convinced no rules were broken, but Durham constabulary announced last month they would investigate, after local MP Richard Holden pressed them to pursue the issue.

Senior party officials have begun tentative planning for a leadership contest should the pair have to step down, the Guardian understands. The party would then face having no clear interim leader, with its leader and deputy having been forced to resign.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, is the name most mentioned as potential interim leader, though some on the party’s national executive committee (NEC) favour it being offered to Harriet Harman, who performed the role during the 2015 leadership election. Harman has said she will stand down at the next election.

The NEC would select the caretaker leader while a contest took place, with Healey’s name in the frame because most of the senior members of the shadow cabinet are likely to be either candidates or closely associated with a candidate.

Other potential candidates include Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor; Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary; the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the favoured candidate of many MPs, would not be able to run in a snap leadership election except in the event of a rule change by the NEC to allow non-MPs to run. One source close to the committee said there was “absolutely no way” of that change happening.

Another said they did not think there would be any merit in changing the rules and forcing the party to then go through “three more months of hell” as it scrambled to find Burnham a seat and face a mayoralty byelection.

However, one senior party source suggested the upheaval that would be unleashed by the abrupt departure of Starmer and Rayner might persuade some NEC members to open the way for Burnham. “In an unstable situation, there could be all sorts of deals done.”

The former Unite union leader Len McCluskey lent his support earlier this week to a potential Burnham leadership candidacy.

Some in the party executive’s centrist bloc – which is now dominant under Starmer – have made tentative plans to attempt to persuade MPs they should rally behind just two candidates, which could then be put to a vote by members.

There is no guarantee that strategy would be successful. After rule changes last year, MPs would need to get at least 40 MPs to back them in order to reach the ballot paper.

There is no candidate from the party’s left likely to reach the required number, amid a split in the Socialist Campaign Group between veterans of the Jeremy Corbyn years such as John McDonnell and Jon Trickett and younger more ambitious left-wing MPs who formed the Love Socialism group, including Clive Lewis, Alex Sobel and Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

One outsider candidate who might win some support from the party’s left is the shadow mental health minster Rosena Allin-Khan, who ran for deputy leader in 2020. Allin-Khan was widely expected to be promoted in Starmer’s reshuffle but stayed in her role and attends the shadow cabinet in that capacity.

The only other plausible candidate is Dawn Butler, who was closer to Corbyn, Starmer’s predecessor as Labour leader, though she is less likely to win as many votes from the party’s soft left, which she would need to do in order to get on the ballot.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×