Keir Starmer says Jeremy Corbyn key issue on doorsteps at election
Sir Keir Starmer during a Labour Party press conference in central London. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Newly-elected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party's calamitous election defeat came down to one major factor - Jeremy Corbyn.
Sir Keir told the Financial Times that Corbyn's leadership was raised with him in over 40 constituencies over the course of the 2019 election campaign as shadow Brexit secretary.
He told the paper: 'The topic of conversation was always what was coming up . . . anybody who knocks on doors knows a number of things came up... The leadership of Labour party was number one, fair or unfair.'
You may also want to watch:
He insisted that an 'overloaded' manifesto also contributed to the party's bruising defeat, saying MPs and constituents struggled to believe in the viability of nationalising industries and spending £83 billion more per year from raised taxes on public services.
Most Read
- 1 Why don't Brexiteers like to talk about Brexit any more?
- 2 Brexit: British 'expats' in Spain facing deportation over residency
- 3 Michael O'Leary: My hope for the future over Brexit
- 4 Five years of Brexit summed up by Cold War Steve
- 5 When Eton took on a team of miners at football
- 6 Is the Sun setting on Murdoch's global media empire?
- 7 Did Donald Trump really wear his trousers backwards at Republicans' North Carolina rally?
- 8 English to be temporarily replaced by French as EU's 'working language' in 2022
- 9 Major disaster: How Tories' 1992 victory sowed seeds of Brexit
- 10 Priti Patel urged to publish promised assessment on impact of ending freedom of movement
'People thought there was too much in it', he said, 'and because there was too much in it they didn't believe any of it'.
In 2019 Labour suffered one of its worst elections defeats on record, handing the Conservatives an eye-watering 80-seat majority in December 2019. The result led to Corbyn resigning on the night during his election speech in Islington.
Since taking over as party leader in April, Sir Keir has distanced himself from Corbyn and his allies, who he was reluctant to criticise during the Labour leadership campaign.
Among those who were axed from the frontbench included former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, and ex-trade and climate change minister Barry Gardiner.
The party's general secretary Jennie Formby this week quit 'by mutual agreement', and Corbyn's director of communications Seumas Milne was immediately replaced.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
