A former Labour special adviser has delivered a devastating verdict on Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, declaring him “a goner for sure” as the party descends into what she calls a self-inflicted “psychodrama.”
Speaking to GB News, Jo Phillips who served as a senior press office figure for the party admitted that even Mr Starmer’s most loyal supporters are finding it impossible to defend him following a week of explosive revelations.
Sir Keir is under mounting pressure to shake up his No10 operation in light of the Lord Mandelson scandal.
Speaking on The People’s Channel, Ms Phillips said: “Well, I think he’s a goner for sure. But I think, as Chris said just there, there is no obvious candidate to succeed him.
“Now, if Angela Rayner’s tax affairs are finally sorted out and we all know how slow HMRC can be then she might be in a position to stand.
“But don’t forget, Keir Starmer came into Downing Street promising to end the chaos we’d had six prime ministers every five minutes, chopping and changing
“There was not going to be a psychodrama. And the really awful thing about this, Dawn, is that this is entirely of his own making. So he can blame it as much as he likes.
“’Oh, this didn’t come up in vetting,’ or ‘this didn’t happen’ or ‘that didn’t happen’.
Jo Phillips admitted that she cannot defend the PM
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GB NEWS
“This is a man who is a lawyer, who has spent his life being forensic with the evidence. There was enough in the public domain to make anybody half-sensible think, ‘I don’t know it’s a bit iffy, it’s a bit too risky.’
“And I think Harriet Harman, who I have a lot of time for, said this morning or yesterday, in fact, that what is happening now has made Keir Starmer look weak, naive and gullible. I think she was being polite.
“Well, yes, it is very difficult to defend this, because you cannot claim ignorance. We knew he’d resigned. We knew he’d resigned from the Cabinet twice. We knew.”
Lord Mandelson, a senior figure in New Labour under Tony Blair, was twice forced to resign from ministerial positions amid separate scandals.
Lord Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein
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PAHe joined Sir Keir Starmer’s team in early 2025, as the Prime Minister aimed to strengthen ties with the Trump administration.
In September, he was removed from his role after his name appeared in a series of Epstein-related files and photographs released by a US Congressional committee.
Additional information has emerged from a recent release of around three million documents by the US Department of Justice last week.
Lord Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, saying he regrets maintaining contact with him and has expressed his apologies to Epstein’s victims.
The Government plans to publish documents regarding his appointment to the Washington post after MPs passed a Conservative motion on Wednesday.
However, any documents deemed sensitive for national security or diplomatic reasons will first be reviewed by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, which has stated there is no fixed timeline for completing its assessment.
While Mr Starmer acknowledged it had been publicly known for some time that Lord Mandelson knew Epstein, he said: “None of us knew the depths and the darkness of that relationship.”
