AAP News
source : AAP
Britain’s grand parliament opening ceremony does not normally feature an elephant.
But on Wednesday, there was a large figurative elephant in the room: an imminent leadership challenge that could put Prime Minister Keir Starmer out of a job before the summer and consign his freshly minted plan for government to the scrap heap.
Starmer has weathered days of growing calls to quit after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections, and was looking to a ceremonial address from King Charles as a way to reassert his authority and “get on with the job of changing our country for the better”.
But what had already promised to be a difficult day, in which he would be forced to mingle in front of television cameras with opponents who had delighted in his woes, took a turn for the worse in the morning.
The Times newspaper reported that Wes Streeting, Starmer’s health minister and arguably best-positioned rival to challenge his position, was poised to resign and fire the starting gun on a leadership contest.
When the news broke, King Charles, dressed in full ceremonial military dress and accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla, was still approaching parliament in his royal carriage.
Streeting’s team had no immediate comment.
Earlier, they said he didn’t want to distract from the king’s speech.
