Keir Starmer

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has referred to her “very frank relationship” with Keir Starmer amid claims he tried to sack her from the shadow cabinet after the party’s damaging election losses. Rayner claimed she was appointed to her new roles because she wanted to be more “front-facing” in the reshuffled top team after she […]

Keir Starmer’s closest parliamentary aide has resigned as the fallout from Labour’s poor performance in local elections continues. Carolyn Harris, the leader’s parliamentary private secretary (PPS), said: “It has been the proudest moment of my career to co-chair the campaign that saw Keir Starmer elected as Labour leader, and to serve as his PPS for […]

Labour must stop talking down to voters, deputy leader Angela Rayner has said in the wake of the party’s damaging election losses. Rayner set out on Monday how Labour must change to reconnect with working class voters after the crushing defeat in the Hartlepool by-election. Her comments came after she was given greater authority within […]

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has suggested he would entertain becoming leader of the Labour Party “in the distant future”. Burnham was speaking to the media after being re-elected to office with a landslide level of support. Asked on Sky News whether he wanted to lead the party following reports he would be a […]

Keir Starmer has said he will do “whatever is necessary” to rebuild trust in Labour following its “bitterly disappointing” defeat in the Hartlepool by-election. After seeing another pillar in its once impregnable “red wall” fall to the Tories, the Labour leader told his party to “stop quarrelling among ourselves” and address the needs of the […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that he will do “whatever it takes” to rebuild trust in the party following its “bitterly disappointing” by-election defeat in Hartlepool. Starmer has come under fire from all sides after Labour suffered a crushing defeat. In a stunning result, the Conservatives took the seat – which had been […]

Boris Johnson has described the early election results as “very encouraging” after hopes of a Labour revival were dealt a crushing blow when the Conservatives won the Hartlepool by-election. Speaking to reporters in Coventry, the prime minister said: “I know that the results have been coming in since this morning and there’s clearly a lot […]

Campaigning in the Hartlepool by-election, Sir Keir Starmer said repeatedly that Labour had a “mountain to climb” if it was to regain power. Now that the votes are in and counted, that task looks every bit as formidable as the party seeks to chart a route back to No 10. It is hard to see […]

Hopes of a Labour revival under Sir Keir Starmer have suffered a blow after the Conservative Party comfortably won the Hartlepool by-election. The Leave-supporting North East constituency went blue for the first time in its 47-year-old history, as Boris Johnson demolished another brick in Labour’s so-called “red wall”. Voters in the town backed Tory candidate […]

Labour has all but conceded defeat in the Hartlepool by-election after a shadow cabinet member admitted the party was “not close to winning this”. Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon, who led the opposition party’s campaign to hold the North East town, said it looked clear that Labour had not “got over the line”. Such a […]

The prime minister and his fiancee have got it badly wrong over their reported disdain for John Lewis. On contemplating the national orgy of curtain-twitching that’s accompanied Dominic Cummings’s revelations regarding the refurbishment of the prime minister’s flat in Number 11, Downing Street, Oscar Wilde’s valedictory bon mot comes to mind: days before expiring in […]

The Hartlepool by-election will be “really, really challenging” for Labour, the party’s Scottish leader Anas Sarwar has said. Sarwar said both he and Sir Keir Starmer are working to build Labour as a “credible alternative”. He spoke to journalists after attending a drive-in rally in Glasgow with former prime minister Gordon Brown, ahead of polling […]

Party leaders are preparing for a frantic last day of campaigning in the run-up to “super Thursday” as they bid to sway undecided voters before a bumper crop of elections. The prime minister is expected to make a final pitch to the electorate in England with time running out before polls open, while Labour leader […]

Sir Keir Starmer has written an open letter to the country ahead of this week’s elections, setting out his “burning desire to build a brighter future” for Britain. The Labour leader claimed it is “a changed Labour Party” in the letter ahead of Thursday, which will be his first electoral test since taking over from […]

A new poll has revealed the Tories could be on course to win the Hartlepool by-election after its candidate polled 17 points ahead of Labour. Tory candidate Jill Mortimer could win 50% of the vote with Labour GP Dr Paul Williams on 33%, if undecideds were removed, according to Survation. Independents Thelma Walker and Sam Lee […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer has quipped he is going to start wearing boxing gloves at the despatch box as he campaigned for Labour in Hull. Starmer donned pristine red gloves sporting the logo “vote Labour” as he was shown the ropes at the Vulcan Boxing Club in the city on Friday. The leader of the opposition […]

Boris Johnson has insisted he is a fan of retailer John Lewis after the leader of the opposition mocked the scandal surrounding the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat. The prime minister was asked about reports he and his fiancee Carrie Symonds had rejected furnishings by the department store left in the Number 11 flat […]

Keir Starmer has claimed an investigation into the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat could be “over in five minutes” if he revealed “who paid for it in the first place”. The PM has insisted he has not broken any laws over renovations of his Number 11 residence after the Electoral Commission launched a […]

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of “sleaze, cronyism and scandal” after the Electoral Commission launched an investigation into the refurb of the prime minister’s Downing Street flat. Sir Keir used Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to grill Johnson over the Commission’s announcement. “Who initially, and prime minister, initially is the key word here, who initially […]

Six in 10 people in Britain regard Boris Johnson as “untrustworthy”, new polling has revealed. In an Ipsos MORI survey commissioned by the Evening Standard, only 35% of voters said they trusted the prime minister, compared to 59% who did not. The findings will increase alarm in Tory circles after weeks of leaks and allegations about sleaze. The […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer has been encouraged to support making changes to the Brexit deal agreed with the EU to develop a closer working relationship with member states. A report published by the left-wing pro-EU group Another Europe Is Possible strongly supports the case for active engagement with the EU to improve the deal. Starmer […]

Mitch Benn told Labour leader Keir Starmer to be a little less stiff – but getting thrown out of a pub is taking matters too far… GEAR SHIFT OF THE WEEK Sir Keir Starmer, about whom, you may recall, I was complaining last week; specifically about how he’s taking so subtle and reserved an approach […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called for an investigation into renovation work on Boris Johnson’s official flat. The Electoral Commission says it is trying to establish whether money being funneled into the project needs to be considered as political donations. There have been ongoing reports about the cost of the refurbishments to the Downing Street flat, […]

The town’s by-election will be of immense significance for the Labour Party, but its fate is not an issue that is particularly troubling the locals. Outside a cafe near Hartlepool’s marina, Eve Parker, a student, and Stuart Bown, who works as a gravedigger for the council, are queueing for lunch. They are among a significant percentage of the public […]

Sir Keir Starmer has grilled Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions over alleged tax breaks he gave to Sir James Dyson’s employees. The leader of the opposition pressed Johnson over lobbying concerns during the Covid-19 pandemic. Citing correspondence between Dyson and Johnson over tax breaks, Sir Keir told the Commons: “What does the prime minister think is the […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been told to leave a pub in Bath by its landlord, while on a walkabout in the city. Rod Humphris, landlord of the Raven pub, which is located in the centre of Bath, appeared to be held back by security guards during the incident. He shouted “that man is […]

“The working class people I grew up with are voting Tory, and the trendy middle class professionals I work with in London are voting Labour. It’s all topsy-turvy.” I wish this was the warm-up to one of those long, rolling observational gags that have made Russell Kane one of the country’s most successful comedians. Sadly, […]

The government’s links with collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital are to come under further scrutiny as ministers continue to face questions over David Cameron’s lobbying activities. The head of the watchdog which exposed the way the former head of government procurement was able to take a position as a part-time adviser to the firm while […]

Conservative MPs have voted down a proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal. MPs rejected Labour’s bid to establish a committee to investigate the lobbying of government by 357 votes to 262, with a majority of 95. Under the proposal, ministers would be forced before parliament to give evidence and the government would […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has again had to intervene in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after Boris Johnson failed to answer a question. In the first PMQs since Easter, Johnson and opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer went head-to-head over the recent lobbying scandal involving former prime minister David Cameron. Sir Keir called on Johnson to back an […]

Labour is preparing to heap pressure on Boris Johnson to act in the wake of the killing of Sarah Everard by pledging legislation to protect women and girls. Keir Starmer is planning to use what he believes is a watershed moment to press for the harassment of women on the street to become an offence […]

A year into his leadership, being ‘not-Corbyn’ is not enough. The Labour leader has to be visibly ‘post-Boris’. Here is some advice for the leader of the Labour Party from an unexpected source: “It’s odd, the Keir Starmer thing: he’s articulate, intelligent, good in the Commons, lots of common sense. But, for some reason, he […]