Starmer Rivals Face High Bar to Challenge Him as UK’s Leader

The former leader of the opposition has seen his star rise a second time as the energy secretary. Miliband’s experience, policy expertise and popularity with the soft left have led some to speculate he could have support to succeed Starmer, who was first selected as a Labour candidate under his leadership. He has been a strong advocate of green policies, often seeking to go further than the wider government’s position. Some in the party fear choosing Miliband would send the wrong signal to the public, who rejected him at the ballot box in 2015 to vote for the Conservatives. He also supported more stringent press regulation as Labour leader, which earned him the enduring enmity of some corners of the British media.