Starmer sacks Rayner in election meltdown
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LABOUR erupted in civil war last night as Keir Starmer sacked his deputy Angela Rayner as party chair and elections chief.
The Labour leader called Ms Rayner in to a heated meeting to give her the chop after the party lost the Hartlepool by-election to Tory Jill Mortimer, 200 English council seats and failed in its bid for West Midlands mayor.
But allies of Ms Rayner claimed she was made a scapegoat for the leader’s failures and was frustrated at being silenced over the past year. Former Shadow Cabinet minister Jon Trickett said: “If he’s looking for someone to blame he should look in the mirror.”
It is understood Ms Rayner and Mr Starmer disagreed on strategy for the local election campaign. She wanted to concentrate on jobs to reconnect Labour with its traditional voters.
Sir Keir thought slamming the Tories for sleaze and Boris Johnson for the expensive refurbishment of his Downing Street flat was a better bet.
BLATANT
But the issue over who paid the £58,000 invoice for tarting up the flat, which Mr Johnson later reimbursed, did not cut through on the doorstep.
Ms Rayner was also unhappy at Labour choosing Remainer Dr Paul Williams as candidate for Hartlepool – a rabidly Brexit-voting seat.
Ms Rayner will continue as Deputy Leader as that role is elected by party members and it is understood Sir Keir is to offer Ms Rayner another job.
A one-time supporter of previous leader Jeremy Corbyn, the popular Ms Rayner would be a challenger in any leadership contest, having won more than double the votes of her nearest challenger for deputy.
Last night a source close to Mr Starmer said: “Keir said he was taking full responsibility for the results of the elections – and he said we need to change. That means change how we run our campaigns in the future.”
But Mr Corbyn’s former policy chief Andrew Fisher said: “So much for taking full responsibility.”
And co-chair of Momentum Gaya Sriskanthan added: “Angela Rayner’s sacking is blatant scapegoating. The main reason for the catastrophic defeat in Hartlepool is Keir Starmer’s leadership. It is his failed strategy that has brought us to this point. He said he would take responsibility. Yet again he has gone back on his word.”
Labour MPs have given Mr Starmer a year to turn Labour into an elections winner or they will oust him. His misery was complete yesterday when West Midlands
Tory mayor Andy
Street held on with 54% of the vote, nearly 4% more than he scored in 2017 when the post was created. It was a contest Labour was desperate to win, fielding
former Cabinet minister Liam Byrne. One source said: “Keir is a nice guy and a decent bloke. But that’s no longer enough. He needs to find some balls or the party could face oblivion.” Left-wing Labour MP Clive Lewis said: “He’s in trouble. We’re all in trouble.”
Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Peter Mandelson, architect of Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide, said: “I was told that Labour had lost its way. Labour needs
to get its act together. It’s not that Labour has changed too much since Corbyn, as some on the left claim, but that it’s not changed nearly enough.”
Andy Burnham did not rule himself out of a third tilt at the leadership after losing to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015.
The newly re-elected Manchester mayor said: “I’m not going to put myself forward unless they needed me
one day – but we’re not at that day.” He is still backing Mr Starmer but warned: “The party does need change.”
Former Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said Mr Starmer should face an urgent party confidence test.
He said: “This can’t go on. There should now be a special party conference where the leadership outlines its plan to turn this around and seeks the confidence of the party for it.”
Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmoud, who quit Labour’s front bench, said: “My party has lost its way. It’s been captured by rich London liberals and woke social media warriors who are obsessed with identity politics, victimhood and division.”
Mr Trickett added: “Keir Starmer needs to show he has heard the warning from the public. They have marked his card. It is time to connect urgently or stand aside.”
Nicola Sturgeon warned Westminster not to ignore the will of Scottish people after the SNP won the Holyrood election. It failed to gain an overall majority but support from the Greens allowed the First Minister to claim the right to an independence referendum.
The PM tried to stave off such a move by inviting leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to a summit on how to keep the UK together. He said: “The interests of people across the UK and in particular the people of Scotland are best served when we work together.”
Sadiq Khan was expected to remain as London’s Labour mayor as votes were counted last night while Labour’s Steve Rotheram was re-elected as Liverpool City Region mayor in a landslide.