But there will not be an early election, Jones said. Asked about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's suggestion that Rayner's resignation would open up internal Labour splits and prompt a general election as early as 2027, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster told Sky News: Nigel Farage is wrong there. The Labour party is not going to split and there won't be an early election.
At 9.30am on Monday morning, as MPs made their way back to Westminster, Keir Starmer gathered the entire staff of No 10 in the Pillared Room of Downing Street to tell them they were about to enter the next, delivery, stage of government. We go into phase two in good spirits, confident and with conviction, he told them, as some of those gathered shuffled awkwardly. His remarks, after all, followed a difficult summer during which Labour vacated the pitch to Reform UK and ahead of what is likely to be an even more turbulent autumn. Angela Rayner resigns Today in Focus Extra With Starmer desperately needing to show he could get a grip on government, the rest of his big reset week could not have gone more badly.