Left or right, Keir? Labour factions jostle for influence in post-McSweeney No 10

As the prime minister fought for his political life before Labour MPs at their Monday evening meeting, even hardened sceptics saw a flash of something different in Keir Starmer.Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said Starmer had been “liberated”. He did not have to spell out who from. His comments came 24 hours after the departure of Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, a man who has shaped Labour’s modern incarnation.McSweeney’s presence loomed the largest over any other in Starmer’s government, and his departure means there are many cabinet ministers, groups and factions of the party who spy an opportunity to define what comes next

Reform UK’s Kent council faces ‘extreme risk’ after passing first budget

Reform UK’s showcase council in Kent faces “extreme risk” and “instability”, opposition politicians have warned, after it passed its first budget.The party’s councillors voted it through on Thursday night after their leaders announced a 3.99% council tax increase, one percentage point under the limit before a referendum is required, despite promising before their election win not to raise tax.While it was described by the council leader, Linden Kemkaran, as a “sensible, low-tax budget,” opposition parties said it left the council’s reserves “dangerously low” and exposed to financial risk totalling more than £410m on the local authority’s risk register.The vote was carried with 48 councillors in favour – the number who are still with Reform after a period of turmoil in which several left Nigel Farage’s bloc on the council – with 26 against and one abstention

Reeves urged to reassure MPs over public finances amid £6bn-a-year Send costs

Rachel Reeves is under pressure to reassure MPs over the state of the UK’s public finances, amid concerns that the rising cost of special educational needs and disabilities (Send) could leave a significant hole in the government’s financial buffer.Meg Hillier, the chair of the all-party House of Commons Treasury committee, said the chancellor should make clear her long-term plans for the £6bn-a-year Send bill as uncertainty grows over how it will be accounted for at the end of the decade.Reeves, who is due to appear before the committee next month, said in a letterto MPs that she plans to delay a decision until next year.City analysts said financial market investors would be concerned if some or all of the £6bn Send annual cost was deducted from the budget surplus, which the chancellor more than doubled in last November’s budget to £22bn to cushion the UK against volatile government bond markets.The spat between MPs and the Treasury comes after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the £6bn Send bill was unaccounted for at the budget and expected increases to the bill over the next decade posed a risk to the public finances

Starmer ousts cabinet secretary in clear-out of top team after Mandelson scandal

Keir Starmer’s attempt to shake up his top team after the disastrous Peter Mandelson scandal began on Thursday, when he forced out his most senior civil servant with a view to replacing him with Antonia Romeo.The prime minister announced that Chris Wormald was stepping down “by mutual consent” after just over a year as cabinet secretary, with Romeo almost certain to succeed him as the first woman in the job.Starmer’s decision to oust Wormald drew ire from senior civil servants over the brutality of the move. One person described the mood as “sulphurous” over the prime minister’s apparent willingness to let senior officials go.The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the cabinet secretary had become the “latest person Keir Starmer has thrown under the bus to save his own skin”

Who is Antonia Romeo and why is she tipped to be the next cabinet secretary?

Antonia Romeo is not a typical civil servant, according to almost everyone who has worked with or met her in a professional context.Charming, ambitious and not afraid to publicise her own achievements, Romeo was on the shortlist to be cabinet secretary a year ago when Keir Starmer opted instead for a classic “Sir Humphrey” choice in Chris Wormald.But with Wormald now forced out, the permanent secretary of the Home Office finds herself back at the top of the list of appointable candidates and the frontrunner to succeed him.Whitehall sources said earlier this week that Romeo’s appointment was the most likely option but “not nailed on” because No 10 “still don’t know what they want”. It is understood, however, that Downing Street very much intends to appoint her, subject to the civil service commissioner’s approval of the process

Union chief calls for Angela Rayner to replace Keir Starmer or risk Labour defeat to Reform UK

The head of a Labour-affiliated union has called for Angela Rayner to replace Keir Starmer, warning that Starmer risks leading the party into a heavy election defeat to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), told the Guardian she wanted the former deputy prime minister to take charge after this month’s Gorton and Denton byelection.Eslamdoust is the first union leader to call openly for Rayner to oust Starmer, adding to pressure on the prime minister at the end of his most difficult week in office.She said: “I think it’s time that the Labour party had a woman leader. The Tories have had three women prime ministers and four leaders and we’ve had none