At a glance
• Civil war has broken out inside Labour amid claims of a plot to remove Sir Keir Starmer, with Downing Street insiders accused of fuelling a ‘toxic’ briefing war
• Senior figures including Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood, Louise Haigh and Lucy Powell have all been linked to leadership rumours, which they strongly deny
• Growing unrest among Labour MPs comes ahead of a difficult Budget, possible tax rises and local elections that could further test Starmer’s leadership
Civil war has erupted at the heart of Government after Downing Street insiders suggested there was a plot to oust the Prime Minister from within the Labour Party.
Sir Keir Starmer was forced to condemn "completely unacceptable" briefings against his Health Secretary Wes Streeting during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
A cloak-and-dagger briefing war began on Tuesday night when allies of Sir Keir came out fighting on his behalf amid fears his job could be under threat in as little as two weeks' time, following the Budget.
For many months now a growing number of new Labour MPs have been discussing their unease about the direction of the Government, prompting accusations they had become “feral”.
Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have heavily hinted they will break their party’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people at the fiscal statement on November 26.
There are also a series of potentially damaging local elections in May, including in London and for the Senedd in Wales.
Labour has already faced a series of councillor defections in the capital as well as several by-election defeats and MPs have voiced concerns they could lose out to Reform on the right and the Green Party on the left.
The Prime Minister's press secretary on Wednesday left open the possibility that Sir Keir could sack people within his No 10 operation following the briefing war.
Asked if the PM was prepared to fire people found to have briefed against Cabinet ministers, his press secretary said: "I would point you to what he has said about this previously, which is any attacks on Cabinet ministers are completely unacceptable and will always be dealt with."
Here’s who has been accused of plotting against the Prime Minister:
Wes Streeting
The Health Secretary appeared on the morning media round on Wednesday and was bombarded with questions about a possible plot to oust Sir Keir following the reports overnight.
Friends of Sir Keir briefed several news outlets that his job might be under immediate threat and that they were particularly suspicious of Mr Streeting's leadership ambitions.
Mr Streeting strongly denied that he was involved and slammed what he called a “toxic” culture in Downing Street.
The Ilford North MP accused the No10 sources of “self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour” by fuelling the story about a possible coup and distracting from other messages, such as attempts to improve the NHS.
“I do think that going out and calling your Labour MPs feral is not very helpful,” he told Sky News.
“Trying to kneecap one of your own team when they are out not just making the case for the Government but actually delivering the change that we promised, I think that is also self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour.
“I also think whoever did this does not speak for the Prime Minister.”
Asked if the PM should sack those responsible, Mr Streeting said: "Yes. But he's got to find them first and I wouldn't expect him to waste loads of time on this."
Louise Haigh
The former Transport Secretary was allegedly overheard by a diner in a Covent Garden Italian restaurant earlier this month claiming that she could do “a better job’ “than Sir Keir.
Ms Haigh strenuously denied making the comments, telling The Mail on Sunday: “This is categorically untrue.”
Two days later she recorded an appearance on BBC1’s Have I Got News For You, where she seemed to criticise the PM for sacking her as Transport Secretary last year over a mobile phone fraud conviction in 2014.
She appeared to imply that Rachel Reeves received much fairer treatment from Sir Keir following reports that the Chancellor had rented out her London home without obtaining the necessary licence.
Shabana Mahmood
No 10 singled out the Health Secretary to warn off other potential leadership challenges from senior Labour figures including Shabana Mahmood, according to reports.
The Home Secretary is seen as a rising star in the Labour Party.
Shortly after being promoted in the reshuffle, she posted a social media video that included cuttings from a string of newspapers with headlines such as: “It is up to Shabana Mahmood to save the Government” and “Shabana Mahmood has saved Starmer once. Can she do it again?”
This is said to have played into suspicions in No10 that she has her eyes on the top job.
Allies of Ms Mahmood have rejected the suggestions, with one branding it “nonsense”.
Lucy Powell
Ms Powell was sacked as Leader of the House of Commons by Sir Keir as part of a cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of then Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
She went on to win the race to become Deputy Labour Leader, beating Sir Keir’s favoured candidate Bridget Phillipson.
In her victory speech, the Manchester Central MP criticised the Labour government more than a dozen times in a thinly veiled warning to the Prime Minister to raise his game.
She called for a culture change inside No 10 and said she has been the target of negative briefings from the PM’s team.
At a dinner reception in October, she singled out Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s most senior aide, for criticism.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, Mr Streeting said the attacks on him showed that “Lucy Powell was right about the culture of No 10 and I would just like to commend the briefer on at least picking on one of the men instead of the women in the cabinet”.
Andy Burnham
Sir Keir first faced rumours of a leadership challenge just before the Labour Party conference in September.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham fuelled speculation with an interview he gave to the Telegraph in which he said Labour MPs had contacted him about a possible bid.
He later said he had given "honest" answers to questions about those urging him to challenge Sir Keir.
Labour MPs "were in touch with me" to discuss the leadership he said, but he insisted he was not interested in a "personality contest".
Mr Burnham, who won a third term as Manchester mayor last May, added that the Labour government needed a "proper plan for the country" and offered his “support” to the Prime Minister in developing policies that would attract voters thinking of switching to Reform.
He is not an MP and there would be several steps needed before he would be able to launch a challenge to become Labour Party leader, including winning a by-election and resigning as mayor.
