New chief by April as party lashes out at ‘insulting’ Jez
LABOUR looks set to have a new leader by the end of March after party chiefs moved to lay down a timetable.
The party’s ruling body is expected to meet on January 6 to agree how and when to replace Jeremy Corbyn, who provoked anger yesterday with his views on the election defeat.
Senior figures reacted with dismay to his insistence that Labour “won the argument” – despite losing 59 seats in its worse defeat since 1935.
Writing in the Observer, Mr Corbyn said: “I am proud that on austerity, on corporate power, on inequality and on the climate emergency we have won the arguments and rewritten the terms of political debate.
“There is no doubt that our policies are popular. The question is how can we succeed in future where we didn’t this time?”
USELESS
That led to a barrage on social media. Backbencher Wes Streeting tweeted: “‘We won the argument’ is the most insulting response to the worst election result since 1935 that any of us could imagine. Go. Now.”
MP Darren Jones said: “We failed our party, our people and our country. I want to talk about the future and we’d better get to it quickly.”
MP Ben Bradshaw added: “We let this useless failed Tory Government completely off the hook.”
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell did his best to take some of the heat off Mr Corbyn by claiming he was culpable.
He told the BBC: “It’s on me, let’s take it on the chin, I own this disaster.”
Meanwhile, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry was caught up in a furious row with ex-Minister Caroline Flint, who lost her seat.
She claimed Ms Thornberry told one losing Labour candidate: “I’m glad my constituents aren’t as stupid as yours.” But furious Ms Thornberry hit back: “I’ve never said this. This is a total and utter lie.”