Coffee House Shots

The sun is setting on Keir Starmer’s worst week in No. 10 – but potentially Kemi’s best. We go into the weekend with MPs publicly calling for his most senior aide, Morgan McSweeney, to step down because of his role in the botched vetting of Peter Mandelson, and with huge questions remaining about how much the Prime Minister knew about Mandelson’s association with Epstein. All of this means that the upcoming by-election on the Labour party’s patch in Gorton and Denton is poised very precariously.
Meanwhile, Kemi has seized the opportunity to capitalise on Labour’s woes – but are she cutting through enough? And with her position looking more assured, and fiscal responsibility as their rallying cry, could it nearly be over for her shadow chancellor, Mel Stride?
Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Michael Simmons.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
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James Heale, Tim Shipman and Oscar Edmondson discuss the continuing fallout over the Mandelson scandal. The mood amongst Labour MPs is pretty dire – following a bruising PMQs and a government climbdown over the release of Mandelson's vetting files – but is it bad enough for Labour MPs to challenge Starmer? And could his chief of staff – and close Mandelson ally – Morgan McSweeney be in the firing line?

How long ago the decision to block Andy Burnham seems now...
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Another impressive PMQs from Kemi Badenoch – but she had plenty of ammunition to deploy after the Peter Mandelson scandal took a bleaker turn this week.
The Prime Minister clearly wanted to make a strong statement in his first answer to Kemi Badenoch, saying that ‘Mandelson betrayed our country, our parliament and my party’. He added: ‘He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him.’ He then listed the actions he had taken to strip Mandelson of his title, remove him from the Privy Council, and refer material to the Metropolitan Police.
The whole thing exposed Starmer’s biggest weaknesses: his over-reliance on process and his inability to consider how the public see him. There is a lot of support for a full public inquiry, which seems more fitting to the magnitude of this scandal. As the evidence piles in and the scandal rumbles on, is this the beginning of the end for the prime minister – or are we even further along than that?
James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.

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Coffee House Shots is on the road today. James Heale and Megan McElroy have travelled up to the frozen north to speak to the candidates who are lobbying locals in the lead-up to the Gorton and Denton by-election. This is the seat vacated by Labour’s Andrew Gwynne, and made famous by Keir Starmer refusing to let Manchester mayor Andy Burnham contest it and complete his return to Westminster. Reform are giving it everything they’ve got – selecting academic and GB News presenter Matthew Goodwin – while some polling suggests that the Green party could do well. Who is in pole position?
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It is one of the staple headlines of British politics: Peter Mandelson has resigned. The so-called Prince of Darkness was sacked as US ambassador last September, yet that has done little to stem the flow of stories about the alleged nature of his relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. This weekend saw the publication of a further three million emails, triggering another avalanche of claims about Peter Mandelson’s links to the dead sex offender. So what next for Mandelson? And which former political grandees have successfully managed the transition out of the Commons? Should he be taking notes from George Osborne?
James Heale and Tim Shipman discuss.
Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.

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