A frustrated party is letting off steam, tired of No 10’s refusal to take their concerns on board. Starmer will have to hope the lid doesn’t come off as he is forced to confront the scale of his own unpopularity – both in party and country.
She also mentioned her past as “proud working-class woman from the North East” – three attributes which have emerged as defining characteristics of this contest. And she emphasised her union links by making a speech to the Trades Union Congress, a conference Starmer has snubbed this year.
The Clapham and Brixton Hill MP said Labour members were unhappy with her party’s approach to the conflict in Gaza and cuts to the winter fuel allowance and welfare – and called for Labour to do “so much better”.
Emily Thornberry, chair of the foreign affairs committee, has also attacked Starmer, circulating clips of her on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in which she said Labour needs to be “more confident” by “listening” as she gauged the measure of her support.
But there is another dimension to this contest: the Watford Gap. Both the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham – and former Labour deputy leader Baroness Harman – have called for a Northern woman to counterbalance Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, both lawyers and London MPs.
“I think without being disrespectful to some brilliant women in London who are standing – like Emily Thornberry, who I’ve got a lot of respect for – I can well understand why lots of my colleagues are saying we should have a Deputy Leader from outside London to broaden perspectives; broaden the base,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told LBC on Tuesday morning.
On Sunday, Burnham backed Lucy Powell, who represents Manchester Central. By Monday, she was enjoying widespread support from colleagues in Westminster.
Powell is understood to be angry at being sacked on Friday, with sources suggesting she had clashed with Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney. Allies say she has also been underestimated as a political operator.
square LABOUR PARTY All the contenders to replace Angela Rayner as Labour's deputy leader
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“It sounds so ridiculous from the outside, but doing Business Questions every week and giving colleagues the clips they can whack on socials and to the local paper about the issues in their constituencies has won Lucy loads of support,” another Labour MP explains. “People who I’ve been speaking to, who wouldn’t ideologically be Lucy-leaning, are very pro-her.”
Nominations opened on Tuesday, with the result of the election process announced on 25 October. Candidates will have a hustings on Wednesday and will have until 5pm on Thursday to win the support of 80 MPs to be nominated.
Some inside the party spent Monday questioning whether it was worth standing at all, given suggestions from senior Government sources that whoever wins could be sidelined.
“No 10 will probably wait and see who it is and then decide whether it’s someone reasonable they can deal with,” a Labour source said.
“It may seem short, but that’s a lot of news cycles between now and then,” one Labour insider sighed.
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