Dear Diary from Whitehall: It’s Christmas week, the Commons bars are quiet, and Labour MPs are back home carving turkey rather than legislation.
But while Brussels sprouts are being passed around dining tables up and down the country, Sir Keir Starmer’s name keeps cropping up in conversations he won’t enjoy.
The festive small talk has turned distinctly sour over No 10’s decision to scrap the afternoon Westminster press briefing. What was meant to be a tidy procedural change has instead become a talking point over Christmas dinners, with more than a few Labour MPs said to be airing doubts about their leader between mouthfuls of mince pie.
Privately, some MPs are grumbling that the move looks unnecessary at best and defensive at worst. One backbencher is said to have joked to friends that it was “an odd way to show confidence”, while another reportedly asked why a government so sure of its case would want fewer chances to explain itself.
Those conversations aren’t just happening around family tables. Labour WhatsApp groups, usually full of constituency trivia, wokery and diary clashes, are said to be ablaze with criticism. Messages questioning the wisdom of the press briefing axe have been flying around, alongside broader complaints about Starmer’s leadership style and direction.
The line doing the rounds is that this is not how Labour promised to govern. Several MPs are said to feel uncomfortable that a party which once accused its opponents of hiding from scrutiny is now facing the same charge itself.
Downing Street, of course, insists there is nothing to see. Officials maintain the afternoon briefing was poorly attended and repetitive, and say more ministerial press conferences and official briefings will take its place. Starmer’s communications chief, Tim Allan, has stressed that changes are needed to reflect a transformed media landscape.
But the timing has not helped. With Parliament in recess, there’s no chamber to vent frustrations in, leaving MPs to stew over stuffing and sherry instead. One Labour source is said to have remarked that “this will all come out when we’re back”, a comment that has been repeated often enough to raise eyebrows.
Across Westminster, rivals are watching with barely concealed delight as reports of Labour discontent pile up, while journalists note that the grumbling is no longer confined to the opposition or the press, but is now bubbling openly from within Labour’s own increasingly restless ranks.
For now, the complaints are being whispered rather than shouted. But as the Christmas decorations come down and MPs return to Westminster, there’s a growing sense that the festive grumbles could turn into something louder. When Labour MPs stop gossiping over Christmas dinner and start talking in the tearooms again, Sir Keir may find the real trouble is only just beginning.
Jack Lions
