On Wednesday, as Sir Keir Starmer stood in the House of Lords and watched the King read out the government’s plan for the coming year, the prime minister’s three biggest rivals within Labour were preparing their next moves.
Andy Burnham spent much of the day attempting to persuade MP Josh Simons, once a staunch ally of Sir Keir, to sacrifice his parliamentary career to help save Labour.
Wes Streeting was in Parliament with his closest advisers mulling whether he should quit the cabinet job as health secretary that he had coveted for years.
And that afternoon Angela Rayner slipped into a London hotel suite to secretly pre-record a TV interview about resolving her tax affairs with HMRC.
Rayner’s return
The all-important email from HMRC had landed in the inbox of Rayner’s tax lawyer Graham Aaronson on Tuesday afternoon.
Relief was the main emotion among the former deputy prime minister’s team, “as well as vindication”, said an ally.
“The key point was she’d been cleared of either tax dodging or being careless,” they added. Rayner did, however, settle £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty.
The timing of HMRC’s decision was unexpected but potentially perfect for Rayner. It arrived just as MPs were split on Starmer’s future and a leadership contest looked possible.
But Rayner, her allies say, did not want to overshadow the King’s speech or undermine the announcement of new legislation she had helped with while a minister.
She did, however, want to make an impact.
Her team decided it was best to do two interviews – one newspaper, one television – and wait until the next morning to publish them.
Soon after the monarch had changed out of his Imperial State Crown and robes, and returned to Buckingham Palace via carriage, Rayner met the Guardian journalist Pippa Crerar in central London. She then sat down with ITV’s Paul Brand in a hotel suite nearby.
Both interviews dropped at 06:00 on Thursday morning.
“It was timed to make sure we got it out, and it had a fair wave of attention before other dramas kicked off,” said an ally.
Rayner had not warned the prime minister.
Streeting resigns
As Westminster rushed to read and watch Rayner’s interviews, Streeting had still not decided whether he was staying or going.
“He didn’t begin the week planning to resign”, said a colleague. But his departure had become more inevitable with each passing day.
In a brief face-to-face meeting on Wednesday, Streeting told Sir Keir he had lost confidence in the prime minister’s leadership.
Yet the lack of clarity over the now-former health secretary’s future had led critics to dub him a “bottler” who had not amassed anywhere near the numbers of MPs to formally launch a challenge against Sir Keir.
Streeting’s allies insists that is not true. “I’ve seen the spreadsheet,” one claimed.
Another colleague added: “He’d been calling round MPs and had got the numbers he needed, but through those conversations he’d concluded that any contest would have to enable the broadest set of candidates.
“That meant giving Andy Burnham a chance to state his intention and come back if he wanted.”
Team Streeting were also fully aware that without a credible victory he would struggle to command the support of Labour MPs if difficult legislation came to the fore.
Streeting made his final decision on Thursday morning.
“He had a few cabinet ministers and people in Number 10 asking him not to go,” said a supporter.
“But he spoke to friends and colleagues in Parliament and made up his mind.”
Streeting drafted his resignation letter in his wood-panelled ministerial office in the Palace of Westminster.
He did not take the decision at all lightly, one friend said.
“But once he’d made it, he was certain it was right and honourable. It was done with a heavy heart but with total conviction.”
Streeting was with his staff and a few supportive MPs when the letter was emailed to Number 10.
Shortly after at 12:58 BST on Thursday he posted the bombshell news on X.
At that moment, Sir Keir was on the way to meet apprentices in south west London.
Soon after Streeting’s announcement, journalists were told the prime minister’s visit was cancelled.
Burnham’s gamble
Meanwhile, Labour MP Josh Simons’ friends and family were asking one important question: “Is it worth it?” Ultimately they decided the answer was yes.
The 32-year-old MP for Makerfield and his wife had spoken to Burnham about the merits of moving aside for the Greater Manchester mayor and peppered him with questions.
Their judgement was less about whether the seat was winnable and more about whether Burnham was capable of becoming prime minister and turning round Labour’s fortunes.
“Josh has been radicalised by being a local MP… he saw the implosion in Westminster as a chance for Andy to come home,” a friend said.
Burnham lives in the area and his kids went to school locally.
Simons, a father-of-three, is considered furiously bright but resigned as a minister in March during controversy surrounding his pre-parliament management of the think tank Labour Together.
Some speculate Simons could still return to politics, perhaps in a senior policy role in a future Burnham administration.
After agonising over whether to quit, Simons is already campaigning in Makerfield for a Labour by-election victory.
“This is the sort of moment which can change Labour’s story” a source close to Simons said. “Given the stakes Josh was not willing to say no.”
Simons was at home in Wigan with his family when he posted on social media that he would stand aside as an MP.
Soon after Burnham posted on X that he intended to stand in the subsequent by-election.
Worried about the possible arrival of photographers and camera crews, Simons closed his blinds, ordered a Domino’s pizza and went to bed.
As Thursday drew to a close, Streeting and Burnham spoke on the phone.
The tone of the conversation between the potential rivals was said to be warm, with Streeting committing to campaign for Burnham in the Makerfield by-election.
It marked the end of a bizarre and rather unforgettable day in British politics.
Three headline-grabbing interventions by three senior Labour politicians within 12 hours.
Rayner, Streeting and Burnham effectively signalled the start of a leadership contest – even though there is neither a vacancy nor any declared contenders and Sir Keir has said he would fight any challenge.
Yet the prime minister has been weakened in recent days, and many of his colleagues concede his departure may now not be a case of if, but when.
