Labour chairwoman 'confident' Starmer will be PM next Christmas as she defends 'difficult decisions' since General Election

Speaking to LBC’s Lewis Goodall, Anna Turley said she is “absolutely confident” Sir Keir will make it to the end of next year as she defended Labour’s record in Government.

When pressed on Sir Keir’s historically low polling numbers, Ms Turley, MP for Redcar, insisted the entire Labour Party is behind the PM.

“I know we all live in a very kind of impatient world, but the reality is anyone who has taken over as Prime Minister had a job to do to turn things around,” she told Lewis.

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“We are starting to see and feel that now and there is a team behind him. We've made real, tangible change.”

Labour is “delivering” on the things Brits care about, she added, despite polls suggesting the party is deeply unpopular.

She said: "I think as we go into the new year, we're thinking about the money that people are going to get off their energy bills, the freezing of prescription charges, breakfast clubs, free school meals, half a million children lifted out of poverty.

"This is a Labour government delivering things that people can see and feel in their communities and that's what the Prime Minister is very, very clear, is his commitment to the people of this country."

On what Labour must do to convince the public things are improving, she added: “I think we all just have to focus on what our constituents want to see and feel.

“As someone who's won elections and lost elections, you live and die by delivering for the people that you represent.

“That's what all of my colleagues should be focusing on and when I look around the Cabinet table, I genuinely see people who are really, really committed to delivering.

“We're really, really positive about the change that we're bringing.”

Ms Turley dismissed suggestions Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham or former deputy PM Angela Rayner could be plotting to take the top spot.

"History is littered with people who had, you know, ambitions for the top job but the reality is we've got a Prime Minister with a huge parliamentary majority, a big vision for the country and a huge challenge and programme of change to deliver, which we really want and feel in the days and weeks ahead,” she said.

In an interview with The Observer newspaper this weekend, Mr Streeting insisted the Prime Minister has his “absolute support”.He was forced to deny in November that he planned to unseat Sir Keir, following a savage briefing war at the heart of Government.

Mr Streeting also shrugged off suggestions of a joint leadership ticket with Angela Rayner, and told the newspaper: “The closer I see that job and the pressure on Keir and the demands of that job, the more I wonder why anyone would want it.”