Starmer claims ‘vast majority’ of Labour support his leadership

Appearing emboldened following his speech at the Labour Party conference in Brighton yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer has this morning claimed that the bulk of the Labour Party are behind him.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, the Labour leader said, “We are a broad church. Any party conference will always have its moments. But in the hall yesterday it was obvious that the vast majority of Labour Party supporters and members are with me, with the change that we need to make to our party, so we can put ourselves forward as credible and go into government and change millions of lives”.

Referring to those who heckled him during his set piece conference speech, Starmer again reiterated, “Shout slogans or change lives, that is the choice for the Labour Party”.

Citing why he believed Labour lost the last General Election, Starmer cited four reasons saying, “the four things people levelled against us were our leader, for better or worse, our manifesto which over-promised and which people didn’t believe, antisemitism, and Brexit”.

“We have lost 4 elections in a row over 10 years, and therefore, yes, we can all say what we think the single factor was in 2019. I don’t think there was a single factor, I think cumulatively, people didn’t trust us. And I am not going to let that happen again”.

Continuing he said, “It is why I was so determined to take the tough decisions at this conference. People were saying to me, on Saturday, are you sure Kier, is this the time. It is always the time to make the change you need in your party so that it can face the country and put itself in a position to win a General Election. It is always the time to do that. I took a tough decision and it was vindicated, and I am pleased that we are now on a stronger, better footing, to put our case to the country”.

Challenged that he avoided referencing Tony Blair in his conference speech, Starmer said, “Tony Blair was a three-time winner in the Labour Party and we need to get back to winners in the Labour Party”.