Starmer loyalist warns against ‘copying Tories’ but admits PM is unpopular

One of Keir Starmer’s closest allies in the cabinet has conceded that the prime minister is “unpopular” but has insisted Labour should not repeat the same pattern of changing leaders that damaged the Conservatives. The housing secretary, Steve Reed , one of Starmer’s most loyal ministers and staunch defenders, told broadcasters on Friday that no one had the numbers to challenge him and the party should come together behind the prime minister. Starmer’s leadership is under intense pressure after the Labour MP Josh Simons announced he would stand aside to allow the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, to attempt to return to parliament and challenge the prime minister. Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary , while the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner revealed that she had been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing over her tax affairs, clearing the path for a potential tilt at the top job. Speaking on Sky News, Reed admitted “the prime minister is unpopular”, adding: “But each of the last four prime ministers in turn have been the most unpopular prime minister we’ve ever had.” He said: “What happens when you’re the leader of the government at a time when the public are so angry with the state of our public services and the economy, is it focuses down on that individual. “So we can either copy the Tories, they doomscrolled through leader after leader – five, I think, in eight years, prime ministers. It didn’t help them one jot. …