David Wooding has declared that it is “the end” for Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership and should be “put out of his misery” before more Peter Mandelson revelations come to light.
Speaking to GB News, the ex-Editor of the Sunday Express said the Prime Minister is “clinging on to power” despite facing “crises on all fronts”.
Pressure continues to mount on Sir Keir’s leadership as the police investigate Peter Mandelson’s relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, raiding the disgraced Peer’s homes in Camden and Wiltshire.
Apologising for the scandal, the Prime Minister told the nation on Friday: “I am sorry. I am sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mendelssohn’s lies and appointed him.”
Offering his bleak verdict for Sir Keir, Mr Wooding told GB News: “I think the main thing is that it’s the end for Keir Starmer, it’s just a matter of when.
“He’s clearly clinging on to power at the moment – the problem is, he’s got the crises on multiple fronts.
“We’ve got the economy, we’ve got migrant crisis, we’ve got all sorts of things that need fixing, and he’s going to be spending all his time trying to shore up his own premiership and dealing with rebellions that are going on in the background.”
He added: “And indeed the crisis involving Peter Mandelson, because we’ve got all these documents which are going to come out and that’s just going to pile even more pressure on him.
“Then not to mention the elections coming up in May, and in less than three weeks we’ve got the Denton and Gordon by-election.
“So any defeats there are going to pile even more pressure on the Prime Minister.”
Highlighting the “two big issues” facing Sir Keir in light of the Mr Mandelson scandal, Mr Wooding explained: “The big two issues for the Prime Minister here are, one, his judgement in appointing Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador when he knew full well of all the links with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“And two, the fact that he’s handled it so badly in the aftermath, and there’s more things coming down the path on this one. So it’s very difficult for him to shore things up at the moment.”
Arguing that the Prime Minister should resign now before “more revelations come to light”, he added: “The problem he has also is that people are starting to feel a bit of sympathy for him.
“It’s really a case of putting him out of his misery because the longer he stays in there, the more he’s going to see lots more revelations coming to light, which will only make him look even more downbeat in the in the eyes of the public.”
Pressed by host Olivia Utley on whether the Prime Minister may step down before the elections following his “furious” Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Wooding told GB News: “Well, people who are close to Keir Starmer say that his moods are swinging between fury and deep self doubt, and that will mean this weekend he’ll be thinking, he’ll be sitting there thinking hard, probably talking to his wife Victoria about what he does next.
“And maybe the the best way for him is to get out now, because things will only get worse for him.”
He continued: “Angela Rayner is circling, we’ve got Wes Streeting, no doubt we’ll be looking at his options too.
“And Angela Rayner coming out to say that she warned him about it, not to mention other Labour grandeers like Maurice Glasman, Lord Glasman came out, and said that he warned Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff about Mandelson before he was appointed.
“The problem Labour have is they don’t have an oven ready Prime Minister in the waking.
“There’s lots of problems with Angela Rayner, she was only Deputy Prime Minister for barely a year and she has got her own investigation on over unpaid 40,000 tax.”
Questioned by host Charlie Peters on whether the issues are more with Britain’s parliamentary system and not with the leaders themselves, Mr Wooding responded: “Well, we do have a parliamentary democracy here.
“And of course, as we had with the Conservatives, three Prime Ministers walked into No10 without being elected by the public. But that’s the system we have.
“Unless we have a presidential system like the United States, then people will not be voting for the person who’s in power.
“And rightly so, if Angela Rayner becomes Prime Minister in the next few months, people will rightly be saying we need an election because we did not vote for you.
“The problem is that she was calling for the Conservatives to have an election when they were in the same situation.
“Now she will be tested on whether whether she would do the same herself. And she’s unlikely to, because there’s no need for her to.”
