Sir Keir Starmer is considering sacking Rachel Reeves in a shock reshuffle, Labour insiders claim.
They say the Prime Minister is willing to sacrifice his Chancellor in sweeping changes to his top team, pencilled in for days after next month’s local elections.
One source branded it ‘one final roll of the dice’ to re-establish Sir Keir’s authority if the results of the May 7 poll are as disastrous as expected.
It is understood that Downing Street is considering then making Yvette Cooper – who is currently Foreign Secretary – Chancellor.
However, this would not go down well with Labour’s soft-Left MPs, who are agitating for Ed Miliband to get the job.
The news comes amid rumours that the Prime Minister has lost the support of his Cabinet over the Peter Mandelson affair.
Although Downing Street hopes a reshuffle will stave off potential leadership challenges, others think it will only hasten Sir Keir’s demise.
One Westminster source said: ‘Reshuffles always create more enemies than friends. This will certainly be no exception.’
Sir Keir Starmer is considering sacking the Chancellor if next month's local elections are as disastrous as expected, Labour insiders claim
Rachel Reeves could be replaced by Yvette Cooper, who is currently Foreign Secretary, as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Last night, one Labour MP warned Sir Keir no longer had the power to reshape his frontbench team, let alone sack Ms Reeves.
But one adviser said: ‘It’s not true that he’s too close to Rachel to sack her. Keir’s heard all these arguments before when he was getting rid of Morgan McSweeney [his former Chief of Staff]. He now thinks sacking people saves his own skin in the short term.’
A senior Labour source added: ‘This is the last gasp of a dying man. He’s going to have to be dragged out of No 10 with his fingernails clinging to the wallpaper.’
No 10 declined to comment.