The Prime Minister – who faces dire predictions Labour could lose up to 2,000 councillors – insisted the party would ‘take nothing for granted’ in May’s local elections
Keir Starmer attempted to present a united front with Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham today – ahead of next month’s crunch local elections.
The Prime Minister – who faces dire predictions Labour could lose up to 2,000 councillors – insisted the party would “take nothing for granted” in May’s poll.
He also dismissed the possibility that he could resign if Labour suffered heavy defeats, telling reporters he had received a “five-year mandate to change this country” in 2024. He added: “I intend to carry through that mandate.”
Mr Starmer was joined on the visit by his former deputy, Ms Rayner, and Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham, whose bid to contest the Gorton and Denton by-election was blocked by Labour’s ruling executive committee.
While the trio appeared united – sharing a joke as they sat with schoolchildren – Ms Rayner has become increasingly vocal in her criticism of the Government in recent weeks.
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The former Deputy Prime Minister, who is often floated as a potential future leadership candidate, warned last month Labour was “running out of time” to deliver change.
Addressing an event by campaign group Mainstream, Ms Ryaner said the party had come to be seen to represent “the Establishment, not working people”.
She also hit out at the government’s flagship immigration plans spearheaded by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. In an apparent attack on the proposals, Ms Rayner said: “Many people came here to Britain – on the understanding that if they worked in the sectors where we needed them, obeyed the law and paid their taxes, they could stay.
“If we suddenly change that, it pulls the rug from under those who have planned their lives and commitments and are contributing to our economy and to our society. That would be not just bad policy but a breach of trust. The people already in the system – who made a huge investment – now fear for their future, they do not have stability and do not know what will happen.
“We cannot talk about earning a settlement if we keep moving the goalposts, because moving the goalposts undermines our sense of fair play. It’s un-British.”
She continued: “As a party, and as a movement, we cannot hide, we cannot just go through the motions in the face of decline. There’s no safe ground and we’re running out of time. The change that people wanted so desperately needs to be seen, it needs to be felt, and we have to show that it is a Labour government that will deliver it.”