UK PM Fights for Job Amid Epstein Woes 02/09 06:19

   

   LONDON (AP) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's position hung by a 
thread on Monday as he tried to persuade his Labour Party lawmakers not to kick 
him out of his job after just a year and a half in office.

   Starmer's head of communications, Tim Allan, said he was quitting Monday to 
allow "a new No. 10 team to be built." The prime minister lost his chief of 
staff on Sunday and is rapidly shedding support from Labour legislators after 
revelations about the relationship between former British Ambassador to 
Washington Peter Mandelson and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

   Starmer is due to address Labour lawmakers behind closed doors later Monday 
in an attempt to rebuild some of his shattered authority.

   The political storm stems from Starmer's decision in 2024 to appoint 
Mandelson to Britain's most important diplomatic post, despite knowing he had 
ties to Epstein.

   Starmer fired Mandelson in September after emails were published showing 
that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier's 2008 
conviction for sex offenses involving a minor. Critics say Starmer should have 
known better than to appoint Mandelson, 72, a contentious figure whose career 
has been studded with scandals over money or ethics.

   A new trove of Epstein files released in the United States has brought more 
details about the relationship, and new pressure on Starmer.

   Starmer apologized last week for "having believed Mandelson's lies."

   He promised to release documentation related to Mandelson's appointment, 
which the government says will show that Mandelson misled officials about his 
ties to Epstein.

   Police are investigating Mandelson for potential misconduct in public office 
over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein 
a decade and a half ago. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life in 
prison. Mandelson has not been arrested or charged, and does not face any 
allegations of sexual misconduct.

   Chief of staff took the blame for Mandelson's appointment

   Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, took the fall for the decision 
by quitting on Sunday, saying that "I advised the prime minister to make that 
appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice."

   McSweeney has been Starmer's most important aide since he became Labour 
leader in 2020, and is considered a key architect of Labour's landslide July 
2024 election victory. But some in the party blame him for a series of missteps 
since then.

   Some Labour officials hope that his departure will buy the prime minister 
time to rebuild trust with the party and the country. Senior lawmaker Emily 
Thornberry said McSweeney had become a "divisive figure" and his departure 
brought the opportunity for a reset.

   She said Starmer is "a good leader in that he is strong and clear. I think 
that he needs to step up a bit more than he has."

   Others say McSweeney's departure leaves Starmer weak and isolated.

   Starmer has struggled in office

   Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer "has made 
bad decision after bad decision" and "his position now is untenable."

   Since winning office, Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic 
growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. He pledged 
a return to honest government after 14 years of scandal-tarred Conservative 
rule, but has been beset by missteps and U-turns over welfare cuts and other 
unpopular policies.

   Labour consistently lags behind the hard-right Reform UK party in opinion 
polls, and its failure to improve had sparked talk of a leadership challenge, 
even before the Mandelson revelations.

   Under Britain's parliamentary system, prime ministers can change without the 
need for a national election. If Starmer is challenged or resigns, it will 
trigger an election for the Labour leadership. The winner would become prime 
minister.

   The Conservatives went through three prime ministers between national 
elections in 2019 and 2024. One, Liz Truss, lasted just 49 days in office.

   Starmer was elected on a promise to end the political chaos that roiled the 
Conservatives' final years in power. That proved easier said than done.

   Labour lawmaker Clive Efford said Starmer's critics should "be careful what 
you wish for."

   "I don't think people took to the changes in prime minister when the Tories 
were in power," he told the BBC. "It didn't do them any good."