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He is the ex-special forces colonel talked of by some in Labour as the dark horse answer to the party’s leadership angst, even if Alistair Carns might not welcome all of the endorsements coming his way.
“He’s one of the most capable individuals on the Labour benches and would be an absolute nightmare to face,” said one Conservative MP familiar with the abilities of the veterans minister, who was cast at the weekend in reports as a “decisive man of action”.
Carns is a former Royal Marine commando and was later military adviser to three defence secretaries at the Ministry of Defence. He was tipped as a future chief of the defence staff prospect, and there was surprise when the Scot suddenly resigned to run as a Labour candidate, winning the safe seat of Birmingham Selly Oak in 2024.
He was appointed minister for the armed forces in September 2025 and has earned praise for quiet stewardship of a portfolio also encompassing issues ranging from homeland defence to support for Ukraine. Supporters present him as a man with credentials to take the fight to Reform UK in Labour heartlands.
Yet the emergence of Carns as a whispered-of leadership contender – albeit a major outside bet in the shadow of big beasts such as Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner – also reflects not just the febrile atmosphere gripping the party, but the growing impatience and appetite for change among its 2024 intake.
Many of the newly elected cohort who were once derided as “Starmtroopers” expected to toe the line are less than impressed with the notion of more senior party figures having a free pass. If Labour skips a generation opting for a fresh face such as Carns, it will be largely because of the 200-plus new MPs elected along with him last July.
“We’re not a monolithic group. The Scottish Labour MPs are very much their own group for example and while a lot us worked in politics before some haven’t and those of us who were originally the long shots to win their seats are probably the most unpredictable,” said one of the cohort.
“But it’s also true to say that people have found their voices. Rebelling on welfare changes was one thing, but there’s also a correlation between them and the assisted dying debate, when people were allowed to organise without getting into trouble, and got used to speaking their mind.”
Many in the 2024 intake also see themselves as a group with relatively broader life experience then those who have come before them. As well as being more ethnically diverse, there is also more gender balance than before.
“It’s a broader group than previously and it really runs contrary to the Tory jibe that Labour lacks people with business experience,” added the same 2024 newcomer.
“There are people who have worked in finance tech, the NHS and of course a significant number who were in the armed forces, so why shouldn’t someone like Al Carns have a chance?”
The counterpoint – expressed by a fellow Labour MP who took office in a previous general election – is that although Carns has a strong backstory for those seeking to shore up Labour’s patriotic credentials, his instincts on bread-and-butter economic issues are more of an unknown.
“He’s perfectly nice, but what is his thinking on all the major questions of the day when it comes to the country, whether its the NHS, childcare or climate?” said the MP.
“In some ways he reflects the approach under the direction of Morgan McSweeney [Starmer’s recently departed chief of staff] to have candidates who could tick boxes at election time. ‘He’s a soldier!’ But why should this mean he’s the solution to our problems?”
The answer to this, responded a 2024 colleague, was that Starmer was now likely to remain as prime minister at least until after the coming elections in May and there could be time for a newcomer to grow in confidence, ability and profile.
“Why not Alistair – who has done very well with whatf he has been asked to do so far or someone different like Miatta Fahnbulleh [the Labour MP for Peckham]? If we are looking at two years’ time then there may be people we are not even talking about now.”
