Peter Kyle expressed frustration at his party’s failure to learn from Tory chaos and said the blame for Labour’s struggles did not solely rest with Keir Starmer
A top minister has warned Labour against plunging into Tory-style leadership chaos as he took a veiled swipe at Keir Starner rivals.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle expressed frustration at his party’s failure to learn from the damage caused by a revolving door of Conservative PMs and criticised MPs for heaping all the blame on the Prime Minister for Labour’s struggles.
In an apparent dig at Mr Burnham, who is widely expected to challenge the PM if he returns to Westminster, he warned “entitlement is not a qualification for leadership”.
It comes amid an uneasy peace in Labour ranks as MPs wait to see if Mr Burnham triumphs in the Makerfield by-election on June 18. Mr Starmer’s position remains on a knife edge after Labour’s local election mauling, and rivals including the Greater Manchester Mayor and ex-Health Secretary Wes Streeting are circling.
Speaking at a press gallery lunch in Westminster on Thursday, Mr Kyle said: “I don’t think we’ve learned the lessons of the Tory party in government, where every time there was a problem that was experienced with their government, there was only one solution, and that’s changing the leader at the top.
“There was never any acceptance in the Tory party at the time that the challenges that they had were related to a programme of government… and they always just felt that changing the person at the top would solve it.”
He said the “wrong behaviour” was rewarded in politics, as politicians who get on with the job rarely made headlines. “What the media report as positives is individual people that want to thrust themselves forward at moments of instability,” he said.
“People who put their heart and soul into delivering stability and authority at times of challenge is not what is reported, it’s not what is rewarded in our body politic.”
In what appeared to be a swipe at Mr Burnham, he went on to say: “Entitlement is not a qualification for leadership. And until we answer the question of what is a qualification for leadership, and it’s a different one to that one, then I think we’re always going to end up in this cycle of change, because we simply reward them on behaviour and if that gets you to the top, then we have another spin of the dice.”
Mr Kyle signalled he would not row in behind his long-time friend Mr Streeting, who quit the Cabinet last month after telling the PM he had lost confidence in his leadership.
He said: “If you put friendship ahead of what you believe is in the interest of the country, that takes you to a very bad place.”
But he admitted voters were crying out for bolder action, saying: “People want to see that government can match the scale of challenges that they perceive we have as a country.”
While he said he opposed many of Donald Trump’s ideas, Mr Kyle said: “I don’t see why you can’t use the same boldness and speed to do progressive policies. I think so often we’re seen as being held back by things that are important for us rather than what they wouldn’t see as important for them.”