Labour ‘fighting for its life’, warns Deputy Leader - as she refuses to say whether Starmer should remain PM at next election
Labour politicians are in the “fight of our lives as a political party”, its deputy leader Lucy Powell has told LBC - as she refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer should lead the party into the next elections.
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The Labour Party has been hurled into chaos following its disastrous local election results on May 7, sparking calls for the Prime Minister to quit as a leadership challenge awaits.
Speaking on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, Ms Powell refused to be drawn on whether she would back the PM going into the next election, or whether the frontrunner to replace him, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, will launch a leadership bid if he wins an upcoming by-election.
But one thing she did make clear is that the party is battling to stay alive.
“What I know is that we are in the fight of our lives as a political party. We need to all be working as one team with all the best players on the pitch, tackling these big fundamental problems, because I tell you what, the issue is really less about the who, but about the what and the why," Ms Powell told Andrew.
She added: “Things have gone wrong in this country over many, many years. There are deep-seated inequalities, deep-seated structural challenges, and we've got a progressive answer to putting them right, and we need to do that.’”
She also refused to say whether Sir Keir should lead Labour going into the next elections.
Read more: Can Andy Burnham stand for the by-election and can Starmer stop him?
Ms Powell said: “That's absolutely a matter for Keir. I'm the Deputy Leader, as you say, elected in my own right, with my own mandate, and I'm there to actually give the feedback of the wider movement.
“And the Labour movement and the members, our trade unions, they don't like what they've seen in the last couple of weeks, they don't like these sort of Westminster parlour games, they don't like to see this division, they expect of us actually a more unified team going out and doing the job that we're all elected to do, and as Deputy Leader, I'm very respectful and responsive to that as well.”
It comes as Mr Burnham was confirmed as Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election. If he wins, he is expected to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership.
When asked whether she would be disappointed if Mr Burnham did not launch a leadership bid. Ms Powell replied: “I don't expect that's what Andy's really coming in to do…
“He's focused, I'm sure, now very much on this by-election, and the conversations, and the debate, and persuading people of Makerfield that Andy Burnham, as their MP, will bring about the changes that they want to see.”It comes after a tumultuous few weeks for Labour following its local elections thrashing, which has also seen Wes Streeting resign as Health Secretary.
In his resignation speech in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Streeting said “we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform”.
“I left the Government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing.
“Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No 10 to Reform, and I do not want that on our consciences.”
But a damning poll this week found that Mr Streeting was less popular than Mr Burnham among Labour members, with the Manchester Mayor coming out as favourite in YouGov’s survey.
47% of Labour members backed him as their first choice in a potential leadership contest, while just 4% ranked Mr Streeting as their favourite.
This makes him the fourth most-popular candidate, behind Angela Rayner in third with 8% and Sir Keir Starmer in second with 31% of Labour members backing him as their preferred candidate.