London Playbook By EMILIO CASALICCHIO May 12, 2026 6:27 pm CET

 

London Playbook

By EMILIO CASALICCHIO

May 12, 2026 6:27 pm CET

with NOAH KEATE

https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/london-playbook-pm-westminster-on-steroids/

 

Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchio.

 

TUESDAY CHEAT SHEET

— Four ministers resigned and called for Keir Starmer to quit or announce a departure timetable.

 

— SCOOP: Even Buckingham Palace has questioned whether the King’s Speech should go ahead tomorrow.

 

— The PM faced down critics in Cabinet and told his top team there is no official challenger under Labour rules.

 

— Wes Streeting tried to talk to Starmer after the meeting but was rebuffed.

 

— The list of MPs calling for Starmer to step down is nearing 100. But more than 100 others signed a letter demanding no contest.

 

TOP OF THE NEWSLIST

WESTMINSTER ON STEROIDS: Keir Starmer is still teetering on the brink after a rabid 10 hours in Westminster that saw four ministerial resignations … more furious MPs … some supportive petitions … and a lot of shouty questions.

 

While you were … living a normal life? A lot has happened since Playbook hit your inbox this morning — yet we remain in a similar stasis, with the “please resign” camp and the “please don’t resign” camp digging in hard. As far as the PM is concerned, life goes on as normal. He spent the afternoon visiting apprentices in South London and will take some time this evening to prepare for his king’s speech address in the Commons. Despite (as POLITICO’s Tim Ross reveals tonight) even Buckingham Palace questioning whether it’s wise to go ahead, the PM is intent on setting out his legislative slate tomorrow.

 

All of which sounds like … a different world to the raving in the bubble today. Here’s how it unfolded.

 

Daz will clean it up? The ground was looking unstable when ride-with-Keir-or-die Cabinet minister Darren Jones appeared on the morning broadcast round. He didn’t seem too sure on the 8.10 a.m. slot on Radio 4 whether the PM was mulling whether to step down after private suggestions to do so from the home sec and others in the top team — although he did his best to insist the government continues with that governing thing it’s meant to be doing.

 

Triggered! Jones sounding doubtful about whether Starmer would last even 24 hours sent leftwing MP John McDonnell into furious parent mode. “I called for time for serious discussion, no precipitous coup & fully democratic process if leadership election,” McDonnell said at 8.26 a.m. “Instead Wes Streeting has launched [a] coup for fear of a democratic process & whilst candidates are blocked.” McDonnell wants enough time for Andy Burnham to navigate a route into parliament and be eligible to stand in a contest, remember.

 

Uhoh: Labour wobbles are Labour wobbles, as the bond markets were quick to notice. Borrowing costs suffered a violent surge after trading opened at 8 a.m. — a reminder that no matter who the prime minister is, Britain is in trouble. “Changing the prime minister doesn’t change the context,” one official said. It was little surprise when it emerged at 9 a.m. that Chancellor Rachel Reeves had cancelled her 11 a.m. appearance at a London event.

 

One of those difficult comms decisions: No.10 decided Cabinet ministers should walk up Downing Street before their 9.30 a.m. meeting, guaranteeing fun footage of broadcasters bellowing questions on whether the PM should resign which they obviously weren’t going to answer. “Has Labour lost its mind?” Sky Pol Ed Beth Rigby shouted at someone down the street. But having Cabinet ministers slip in via the back door would of course make the government look timid.

 

Although … that didn’t stop Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson doing the sensible thing and entering via the Cabinet Office.

 

Not a Starmer Fan-bulleh: It was while the Cabinet was arriving that the Observer’s Cat Neilan scooped the first actual ministerial resignation. Minutes later, local government minister Miatta Fanbulleh published her resignation letter arguing “we have not acted with the vision, pace and ambition that our mandate for change demands of us.” One Labour aide dismissed Fanbulleh as “an individual who continues to believe Ed Miliband would make a good PM, despite the public having already rejected him.” True to soft-left form, she later declared her support for Burnham. She’s on LBC this evening (timings below.)

 

Learning to count: As the Cabinet meeting got going at 9.30 a.m., the number of MPs calling on Starmer to quit hit the 81 mark. Paul Foster … Rebecca Long-Bailey … Vicky Foxcroft … Lizzi Collinge … and Alex Sobel were those chalking their names onto the board. But since that 81 was not coalesced around one candidate (vital for a challenge under Labour rules) there remained no route to launching a contest.

 

Indeed: At 9.45 a.m. No.10 offered up the unusual move of issuing Starmer’s statement to the Cabinet making that exact point. “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” he said. “The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.” It was the PM’s put-up-or-shut-up moment, read across Westminster as a challenge to Streeting, the sole person considered able to do the putting up.

 

The market loves it: The bond markets liked the sound of fighting talk Keir — but weren’t 100 percent convinced. Communities Secretary Steve Reed highlighted their importance on social media, insisting: “This is not a game. This instability has consequences for people’s lives.”

 

Bond market battler: City AM hack Maurício Alencar reported at 10 a.m. that Burnham had been spotted on a train to London.

 

In the room where it happened: Starmer told his top team the leadership issue would not be discussed during Cabinet, according to numerous people in the room. He threw down the gauntlet with his opening gambit and said Cabinet is not the forum for political maneuverings. A minister said the chat after that was “entirely focused” on the Iran crisis — with some praising Starmer for his leadership on the issue. Mahmood (who last night suggested the PM might wanna quit) didn’t speak, our Dan Bloom reported, because the Iran issue does not touch on her brief.

 

Wes Seething: Streeting did not challenge the PM but said something about how promising to steer the nation through it is not sufficient, my POLITICO colleague Sam Blewett heard. One person briefed on the meeting said there were raised eyebrows and glances between ministers when Streeting spoke. “It was all very British,” the person said. The same minister quoted above said there are “weird moves afoot to drain authority until things implode. But that is not credible. Those who may see that as a strategy need to step up and come out of the shadows.”

 

Butch and Sundance moment: Ministers began emerging at 10.40 a.m., with Starmer backers making rare approaches to the cameras to voice support for the PM. Reed, Peter Kyle, Pat McFadden, James Murray, Jenny Chapman and Liz Kendall all spoke to the media. “This government will do what we were elected to do, which is serve the British people,” the latter said. Streeting emerged a little later and ignored entreaties to comment, marching down the street looking not best pleased.

 

Which could be because … he tried to speak to Starmer one-on-one after the Cabinet meeting, but was rebuffed, my colleagues reported. No.10 officials said Starmer was pressed for time. “He’s had a packed day,” one said. “He talks to ministers all the time.”

 

Is the drama over? Things went quiet for a little while as all involved regrouped. The Tories used the pause to indulge in some shameless jeering about the chaos while Defense Secretary John Healey noted on Twitter that dumping the current administration might be … less than ideal during a global crisis. This afternoon he chaired a meeting of international defense ministers about policing the Strait of Hormuz if a peace deal with Iran materializes (and if Donald Trump lets us.) He offered some robot boats, my colleague Esther Webber reports, in addition to mine-hunting systems and the forward deployment of warship HMS Dragon. The PM also chaired one of his Middle East Response Committees at lunchtime to talk about how the Iran war is screwing the markets.

 

Still not helping the markets: Burnham arrived in Euston a little before noon — despite cancelling his appearance at an event he was due to speak at. He cancelled another in Manchester tomorrow, too, Bloomberg’s Ellen Milligan reported. His spokespeople have not said what he is doing in London.

 

The fightback continues: It was around noon that MPs who support Starmer began asking colleagues to sign supportive letters. Two versions did the rounds among those who had not demanded the PM resign. One argued there should be no “immediate” leadership election — a low bar which some chalked up as a bid to maximize numbers among skeptics. “They know there’s no love for him and little belief in his competence,” one person concluded. But the letter that picked up traction said this is “no time for a leadership contest” and garnered more than 100 signatories from backbenchers.

 

Here come the calvary: A Labour aide said it was a “groundswell of backbenchers mobilizing against those who have come forward in the last two days.” Those signatures plus the 120-ish still on the government payroll makes up more than half the PLP.

 

But the groundswell also continued … against the prime minister. Your Playbook PM author was out buying a salad for lunch at 12.53 p.m. when Beth Rigby revealed Victims Minister Jess Phillips had resigned. In her letter to the PM, she complained about the “incremental change” the PM has admitted to peddling. “Decency is vital, calm curiosity is also needed, but so too are fight and drive required,” she said. “Have a row, push back, make arguments, bring people along. Standing up and being counted can’t always be workshopped.” Ouch.

 

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Thinking face emoji: Phillips is seen as being on team Wes. Some in government were skeptical about her motives, noting she could have quit when promised online harms legislation failed to materialize in March — a failure she complained about in her letter.

 

Also thinking about lunch: Justice Sec David Lammy was munching in the sun on the Commons terrace as Phillips resigned, and as Bloomberg reported on warnings from investors about a Liz Truss-smelling meltdown if Labour ousts Starmer. “Every single person who has come forward against Keir should have to answer questions about this and what it means for people’s mortgage rates,” a Labour official said. But the warnings did not stop Alex Davies-Jones publishing her own resignation letter at 1.41 p.m. Labour MP Marie Rimmer (long rumored as someone who could hand Burnham her seat) appeared to heed the warnings, however. She issued her own lunchtime statement at 1.50 p.m. arguing against a leadership race.

 

Never a good sign: Cabinet Office Minister Chris Ward (a long-time Starmtrooper) popped up on TV to defend the PM less than 10 minutes after the Rimmer news. As one Labour MP once told Playbook PM: “The pro-leadership faction meets in its entirety every time Chris Ward dines alone.” Labour MP Josh Fenton-Glynn added his name to the “please resign” list on 5 Live around 3 p.m. — right after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was forced to deny a Times report she wanted Burnham to return. We’re now at 91 MPs calling for the PM to quit including new additions Graeme Downie … Zubir Ahmed … and Jen Craft.

 

Getting overexcited: Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden arrived back in No.10 in the mid-afternoon to much excitement from the broadcasters. But it was because he joined the PM on his apprentices visit to a South London college. An official said the PM enjoyed talking to people learning about bricklaying, tiling and electrics (all the skills needed to build a bunker.) The pair returned to Westminster around 4 p.m.

 

Nothing to see here … Ex-Labour (and Change UK… and Lib Dem) MP Chuka Umunna was only in Downing Street  for a “routine meeting” and not seeing the PM, according to No.10.

 

One more (for now): It was 4.22 p.m. when Health Minister Zubir Ahmed resigned — bringing the total to four ministerial departures. That’s another Streeting ally. Oh, and the Progress chair Labour peer who hosted Labour Together dinners plotting the Starmer rise to power urged the PM to quit and backed Streeting. A spokesperson for Streeting was not responding to requests for comment this afternoon.

 

But but but: As rumors swirled about Mahmood’s next move, a spokesperson for the home sec said, when asked if she’s going to resign: “No. She is cracking on with the job.”

 

As one leader teeters … another is born: SNP MP David Doogan was announced as the new Westminster leader for the Scot Nats, after Stephen Flynn jumped ship to Holyrood. The SNP even trolled Starmer with the announcement.

 

DRIVETIME DEBRIEF

FACTIONS WITHIN FACTIONS: Labour Growth Group MPs are unhappy that their big report was published in its name before members had seen it, my colleague Bethany Dawson texts. Messages in the group’s WhatsApp chat show one Starmer-supporting MP complaining the report gives the impression they are “supporting moves to remove the prime minister.” MPs were already smarting after co-chair Chris Curtis called on Starmer to go, with members urging him in the chat to clarify that is not a group position.

 

INTERESTED ABOUT INTERESTS: The Democracy for Sale Substack and the Guardian report that Nigel Farage has been flying between Reform rallies in a helicopter owned by Lorenzo Zaccheo, a businessman who donated £25,000 to the movement last year. Reform told the outlets the flights had been paid for “at commercial rates” and there’s “no undeclared registrable interest” — while ignoring follow up questions about who footed the bill.

 

No-one is more interested than … Labour Chair Anna Turley, who questioned whether Reform paid the full rate for the flights, and urged the insurgents to “show the receipts.”

 

What else Labour wants to talk about: Well … anything other than its own leadership crisis. A spokesperson seized on Green Leader Zack Polanski admitting he failed to stump up the correct council tax on his houseboat. “This pattern of misleading the public shows Zack Polanski simply cannot be trusted,” a Labour spokesperson said.