Some people are arguing that now is the time for the opposition to table a no-confidence motion. The Leader of The Opposition has made it clear she will facilitate one if Labour MPs now want to get rid of the PM. The Opposition is of course free to do this but will only do so if it seems likely there are enough Labour MPs to make it a worthwhile thing to do. Often the Opposition tabling a motion simply unites the governing party to fight off the threat to the future of the government. This defers the infighting which the crisis has generated. MPs in a governing party are usually reluctant to vote to destabilise their own patronage machine or to hasten an election.
Of course if enough Labour MPs see a No Confidence motion as a means to rid themselves of an unpopular leader then the Opposition can help the rebels by tabling and voting for such a motion. When a party has such a large majority as Labour there is no chance of passing a No confidence vote without large numbers of Labour MPs voting for it. If that did happen the King would ask whoever emerges as the new Labour leader to form the next government. It would not bring on an early General Election.
The Labour Party at the moment is very divided with a large number of Labour MPs extremely unhappy about their leader and about the events surrounding Lord Mandelson. So far the rebels have not all agreed to get behind a single candidate as an alternative to the Prime Minister. Instead the leading contenders or their supporters are busy attacking the Prime Minister in their briefings and doubtless seeing how many other MPs would be willing to get behind a leadership bid by them. It takes 81 Labour MP s to all declare in public they want the same named replacement as Leader to trigger a contest.
February 6, 2026
or … don’t interrupt an adversary until they stop making mistakes.
February 6, 2026
Correct. This is why I, despite everyone else wanting the PM gone, wish him to remain. The death of the LibLabCON.
February 6, 2026
Yes, rather misplaced optimism from Ms Badenoch; such a vote requires at least 2 difficult tasks from the Labour members:
1. Making a decision and sticking to it,
2. Accurate arithmetic.
No doubt setting up a committee and fact finding etc,….. is more likely
February 6, 2026
A vote of no confidence, can backfire if the PM wins it as it can be spun as a ‘vote of confidence’ and prove, no matter what, his party does not have what it takes to get rid of him. All it will do is embolden him, not chase him.
A vote of no confidence comes down to two things:
1) Timing.
2) Numbers.
This is what Mrs.T did back in 1979. She caught the Labour Party at it nadir and short of numbers willing to back the PM and the government. The mood of the country was for change. The government, was not working !
February 6, 2026
I think most people realise that changing PM is not going to make things better and they have not just given up caring about parliament’s circus, but come to loathe it. Motions, PMQs, the Honourable this and that. Outside, we’re fed up with it all.
February 6, 2026
Good morning.
Not even these turkey’s are stupid enough to vote for Christmas (General Election) and the Leader of the Opposition knows that her party would fair little better in a GE. So there will be no motions of no confidence in this government or PM.
Let us be clear what this is ‘really’ all about. It is not about Peter Mandelson or what he is alleged to have done, this is about internal rival politics and a Blairite PM battling his anti-Blairite MP’s lead, in all probability, by Angela Rainer MP. Using the hapless Peter Mandelson as a stick in which to beat the PM with.
This is about power, not right or wrong.
Let us hope this passes moderation this time ?
Reply Lots of errors here. A successful No Confidence vote would deliver a new PM, not a GE. Leader of Opposition would welcome a GE to get rid of this government. Starmer not a Blairite, but well to the left of that. This is very much about Mandelson, and Starmer’s bad judgement hiring him,
February 6, 2026
Starmer’s defence is he was deceived by Mandleson, ignoring the fact it is his judgment in appointing him that is the issue. Yet his own election to the position of PM was itself based on a deceit, the Labour Manifesto. Furthermore that Manifesto owed much to the work of Morgan McSweeny, a close political associate of Mandleson. Perhaps Mandleson himself had a hand in it himself. We need to know the extent of his involvement. Opposition MPs and political journalists need to ferret this out.
Opinion polls reveal that the public have given their verdict of no confidence either in Starmer or the Labour government. It no longer has a popular mandate. Any new Labour party leader needs to go to the country to secure a new mandate based on his or her Manifesto.