Sir Keir’s greatest asset right now may well be the lack of an obvious leadership successor.
Wes Streeting, publicly labelled a plotter by the Prime Minister’s allies before Christmas, would have to explain away his own friendship with Lord Mandelson if he ran.
Angela Rayner’s complicated tax affairs mean her route to power would not be a straight road, while “King of the North” Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, is imprisoned outside Westminster – for now at least.
Hence why some Labour MPs are now wondering, remarkably, if the time has come again for one Ed Miliband. He’s popular with the members, the argument goes, experienced in government and understands the pressures of the job.
Against that argument is the fact that when the public were asked to elect him as prime minister in 2015, they resoundingly voted not to.
“Ed’s played a bit of a blinder,” said one Left-wing Labour MP on Sunday. “He’s been sat back, he wants it to fall to him. And I’ve got the feeling it might.”
For now, Sir Keir remains in office and, just about, in power. But he has lost a human shield.
If Labour MPs come again after the Gorton and Denton by-election later this month, or following the drubbing widely expected in the May local elections, who goes next?
The Prime Minister is running short of scapegoats.
