Contest will be 'Labour's referendum' on Starmer

Party's NEC will set out rules for deputy leader vote today

- ARCHIE MITCHELL DAVID MADDOX

The contest to replace Angela Rayner as deputy leader is expected to become a “referendum” for Labour members on Sir Keir Starmer’s government, senior party figures have told The Independent.

With anger about the attempted welfare cuts and Middle East policy in particular, as well as the added threat of Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party emerging, Sir Keir appears set to be faced with a serious internal challenge as a result of Ms Rayner’s enforced departure.

One senior figure to hint at the difficulty of the contest for the party was Andy Burnham, who said Sir Keir’s government needs “a reset” and urged the PM to use Labour’s deputy leadership contest as a discussion on the future of the party.

The Greater Manchester mayor said the prime minister must listen to and respect Labour MPs more and called on his Downing Street operation to be “less factional and more pluralistic”.

With Labour 10 points behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the latest polls, others privately have been harsher. One Labour MP said: “Members are not happy. We appear to be doing all the wrong things. We are not strong enough over Israel’s genocide, we appear to be trying to balance the books on the poorest. This will be a referendum for Labour members.”

A Blairite former minister from the right of the party warned: “There is a real danger for Keir here. People are not likely to fall into line to support his preferred candidate; they may well vote for a candidate from the left of the party.”