Starmer won’t answer when asked if Cabinet backs him

In a new interview, the slippery Keir Starmer avoided answering the question when asked if he has his Cabinet’s backing:

🚨 WATCH: Keir Starmer refuses to say if the Cabinet is behind him amid the Mandelson vetting scandal pic.twitter.com/MWMfmJnDGA

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) April 23, 2026

This would be a terrible look for any prime minister. It’s even worse for Starmer, because if he doesn’t have the backing of his Cabinet, he doesn’t have the backing of anyone:

‼️POLL AVERAGE | Net approval of leaders:

🟢 Polanski -8
🟠 Davey -8
🔵 Badenoch -14
➡️ Farage -16
⚪️ Corbyn -36
🔴 Starmer -44

Farage enjoys the highest approval figure (32%), whilst Keir Starmer has the lowest (19%). pic.twitter.com/hevSO4etMq

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 3, 2026

Controversy

It’s clear why Starmer lost the backing of his Cabinet. At this point, the scandals are really stacking up:

So we're being asked to believe that Starmer announced the appointment of Mandelson before the security vetting had been completed and didn't then enquire about the vetting at any point subsequently, and according to Darren Jones this means due process was followed at all times pic.twitter.com/WckCGE8rbC

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) April 17, 2026

Just been told by a Minister that there is serious unease in Downing Street tonight that Starmer diverted from his briefing book and went too far in telling the House at PMQs no pressure had been put on any civil servants over Mandelson. “They know that wasn’t true” they said.

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) April 22, 2026

In the video above, the interviewer asks:

Are you confident the Cabinet is fully behind you?

Starmer answers (and we use the word ‘answers’ loosely here):

The Cabinet is working really hard on a huge amount of issues and what we’re delivering at the moment.

The Cabinet is always working on a huge amount of issues, because they’re the government. If they weren’t working on a huge amount of issues, that would mean something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

To be clear, the Cabinet being run off their feet is not an argument for the scandal-magnet Starmer to stay in position. The last thing ministers need is to be dealing with his neverending string of cock ups.

Starmer continued:

We’re preparing for the King’s speech and all the further measures that we’re going to need to take the country forward. And, of course, the issue we discuss at Cabinet a lot in recent weeks… is the war on two fronts, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the developing situation in Iran.

What we discuss at Cabinet is the international aspect of that, but also the domestic impact in relation to that and the measures that we need to take to ensure that we’re assessing the risks and making sure we’re protecting people in this country from those impacts.

Yet again, Starmer can’t decide if we’re involved in these wars or not.

He likes to brag that he didn’t allow Trump to drag us into the Iran fiasco when it suits him, but then he talks about facing a “war on two fronts” when he needs an excuse for not fixing problems at home.

Oh, and to be clear – we absolutely are involved in the war on Iran, no matter what the PM does / doesn’t claim.

End of the road for Starmer?

As we reported, it’s obvious why Starmer doesn’t want to say he has the backing of his Cabinet; it’s because he doesn’t:

🚨 NEW: A Cabinet Minister says they have now lost confidence in Keir Starmer and expect the Cabinet to move against him

[@theipaper]

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) April 22, 2026

As one commenter noted:

“Keir Starmer refuses to say if the Cabinet is behind him amid the Mandelson vetting scandal”

Keir Starmer’s Cabinet right now: pic.twitter.com/IBEtzztMnb

— Monique Jolie #PardonAssange ⌛️🚩☭ (@moniquejolie) April 23, 2026

We’d like to say Starmer doesn’t have long left, but never underestimate the ability of Labour ministers to dither and delay.

Featured image via X/Twitter