Aides urge the Prime Minister to axe 'meddling' law chief in autumn reshuffle
Lord Hermer – parachuted into his plum job as the country's most senior law officer at the insistence of his friend Sir Keir Starmer – has infuriated the Prime Minister's officials with his 'meddling'.
He has attempted to limit the scope of Britain's military involvements in the Middle East and granted himself an effective 'veto' over Government decisions.
Earlier this year he was forced to apologise for comparing calls to quit the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) with the early days of Nazi Germany.
It comes as Sir Keir is planning a 'summer shore-up' operation by restructuring
No 10 and planning for a reshuffle in the autumn after a bruising first year in power.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson are also at risk in the reshuffle.
A source said of Lord Hermer, who was also instrumental in the decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius: 'They bloody hate him in here [No 10].
Lord Hermer – parachuted into his plum job as the country's most senior law officer at the insistence of his friend Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) – has infuriated the Prime Minister's officials with his 'meddling'
'It seems there is no problem which can't be made worse by a human rights barrister whose name ends in "mer". The question is whether Keir will protect him.'
Ministers have pleaded with MPs who expect to serve only one term in the Commons to stop rebelling.
At a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party last Monday Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged them not to write off their seats – saying he had shown it is possible to win against the odds.
A source in the room said he told MPs: 'I've heard some Labour MPs saying they're only going to be a one-term MP.
'Take it from me, someone who bucked the trend to win a marginal seat off the Tories in 2015, bucked the trend in 2017, 2019, and then bucked the trend in the other direction in 2024, there's a long way to go.'
Last summer Mr Streeting narrowly managed to hold on to his seat of Ilford North by 528 votes.
New polling has shown Labour's decision to give the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds puts him at risk of wipeout at the next election.
The Health Secretary's pep talk came after another Cabinet minister told the MoS it is 'not on' that Labour MPs are assuming they will only be there for one term, and can therefore do what they like – as they praised 'necessary' action over welfare rebels.
'It's becoming a nightmare for the whips,' the source said.
Another added: 'They can see the polls, and know they only managed to get in last year in a landslide.'
A Labour MP furious with rebel colleagues said: 'We were elected on a Labour banner. We are there for the team, it is not about us.
'If you have issues with the leadership, you deal with them internally. You have to respect party discipline.'
As part of his 'summer shore-up' Sir Keir is said to be planning to create a 'Department for Downing Street', which would see a senior civil servant appointed to a lead role and with other officials drafted in to try to improve the Prime Minister's ability to 'drive through change' in Whitehall.
It has left Sir Keir open to accusations of 'Presidential' delusions.
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