According to reports, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has instructed his party to prepare replacements in case he is forced to resign over a boozy lockdown curry.
If Durham police fine him for an alleged violation of Covid guidelines, the Labour leader has promised to resign.
Both he and his deputy, Angela Rayner, have threatened to resign if they are issued fixed penalty notices for the protest at the office of City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy in Durham Miners Hall.
Late in the evening, Sir Keir was seen swigging from a bottle of beer. They both insist that no laws were broken and that they were putting in long hours in preparation for a by-election.
Despite this, their tale has changed several times, with conflicting stories of whether Mrs Rayner was present, how many other persons were present, and why a £200 takeaway curry was ordered while their nearby hotel was serving meals.
On Friday, Labour announced that Sir Keir’s and Mrs Rayner’s questionnaires had been handed to Durham Police.
According to the Sunday Times, Sir Keir met with various members of the shadow Cabinet and advised them to prepare leadership campaign teams.
Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy, shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves are also possible successors.
Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, has also been mentioned as a possible leader.
However, the person with the strongest chance of succeeding Sir Keir isn’t even a member of Parliament.
On Sky Bet, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has the fewest odds to become the next Labour Party leader at 5/1. Nandy and Streeting are tied for second at 6/1.
Candidates for Sir Keir’s replacement would require the backing of 20% of Labour MPs, or 39 lawmakers, to make it onto a final ballot if he resigns.
They’d also require the backing of 5% of Constituency Labour Parties or three affiliates, including two trade unions.
Members of the Labour Party would vote on anyone who made it to the final level.
After by-elections in Tiverton and Wakefield, it is expected that the outcome of Durham Police’s inquiry will be published at the end of the month.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer was grilled this week about why it took him more than a fortnight to tell police about Beergate.
Durham Police finally received a questionnaire from Labour leader Ed Miliband yesterday, 18 days after the force questioned him about a night at an MP’s office that allegedly violated lockdown rules.
His spokesman stated that he had sought legal counsel on his responses.
The time between the party verifying receipt of the documents and their return was 18 days.
In contrast, Boris Johnson took just seven days to complete the form he was sent by Scotland Yard about the birthday party thrown for him in June 2020 before a meeting in Downing Street.
Sir Keir’s delay sparked conjecture that, despite his education as a barrister, he struggled to explain his conduct on April 30, 2021, when indoor socializing was outlawed and meetings had to be’reasonably necessary for business.’
Sir Keir was photographed posing with a football shirt provided to him by an activist while drinking beer with more than a dozen party comrades. Detectives were said to have emailed him extensive questions concerning the interaction’s work purpose.
Richard Holden, Tory MP for North West Durham, said: ‘Two weeks for an experienced QC and former director of public prosecutions to get his story straight is an awfully long time if everything is as simple as he says it was.’
Fellow Red Wall Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: ‘After his last two performances at Prime Minister’s Questions, it’s obvious the Leader of the Opposition has something else on his mind.
‘He is clearly being distracted from his job by Beergate.’
Durham Police launched their probe on May 6 and it was estimated it would take two months, meaning just three weeks are left.