Starmer addresses Labour MPs ahead of race to replace Rayner as deputy

Sir Keir Starmer hit out at Reform UK and the Green Party as he addressed Labour MPs on Monday evening for the first time since he reshuffled his Cabinet in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

It came as the party confirmed that MPs hoping to replace Ms Rayner as the party’s deputy leader have until Thursday to secure the support of colleagues at Westminster.

The Prime Minister is understood to have opened the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting by paying tribute to his former deputy before thanking MPs for their work over the first year of his Government.

He told them phase two of his Government is about delivery and that growth is essential to boosting living standards and investing in public services.

He said: “If we want to build houses for the next generation, we have to fight for that.

“If we want transport infrastructure so people can get to work and businesses can thrive, we have to fight for it.

“And if we want every young child to go as far as his or her talent will take them, we have to fight for it.”

Sir Keir assured them the Employment Rights Bill will continue with the same “substance” and to the same timetable as before, amid fears that it could be watered down.

He also called Reform UK “plastic patriots” and hit out at those whose “politics are grounded in grievance”, saying that Nigel Farage “called for sanctions against our country that would hit working people” during his trip to Washington last week.

Sir Keir then said there are “plastic progressives on the other side too” and that “there’s nothing progressive about a Green Party that opposes green infrastructure, blocks house building, and wants to take us out of Nato”.

The Labour Party’s National Executive Committee had earlier laid out a timetable for the contest to elect a new deputy leader, with the result of the process set to be announced on October 25.

In the first stage, candidates have to secure nominations from 80 MPs – a fifth of the total on the Labour benches – by 5pm on Thursday.

Nominations open on Tuesday, with a hustings on Wednesday as part of the fast-tracked election process.

They will then have to secure the support of 5% of constituency parties or at least three affiliates – including at least two affiliated trade unions.

The ballot for candidates who clear the nomination hurdles will open on October 8 and close at noon on October 23, with the result announced on October 25.

Labour’s annual conference starts on September 28 and is likely to be used as a key moment in the campaign, potentially causing problems for Sir Keir as candidates set out rival visions for the party.

The successful candidate will replace Ms Rayner as deputy Labour leader but not as deputy prime minister, a position which has been handed to Justice Secretary David Lammy.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ruled herself out of the deputy leadership race after being tipped as a potential candidate.

Former Cabinet minister Louise Haigh, who was championed as a potential candidate by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, has confirmed she will not run in a statement.

Meanwhile Bell Ribeiro-Addy became the first to officially throw her hat in the ring.

And Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry has indicated she is thinking about a bid, but like both Sir Keir and Mr Lammy she represents a north London constituency which could count against her.

Former deputy leader and Labour veteran Baroness Harriet Harman said the role should be filled by a woman from outside London, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today that the party needs someone who is “complementary to the leader” and who will “broaden the reach of the leader and galvanise the party”.

The contest was triggered by Ms Rayner’s resignation following an ethics investigation which found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat earlier this year.

Sir Keir has sought to draw a line under the scandal, completing a major Government reshuffle on Sunday night and telling his new-look Cabinet to “go up a gear” in delivering on Labour’s pledges.

But he now faces the prospect of a party conference overshadowed by manoeuvring for the deputy leadership role vacated by Ms Rayner, who was popular among the grassroots and seen as a bridge between No 10 and the wider party.

Meanwhile, Ms Rayner is facing Opposition pressure to reject a severance payment which ministers are entitled to when they leave Cabinet.

New Labour rules coming into force in October will allow the Prime Minister to deny a golden goodbye to any members of Government found to have committed a “serious breach” of the ministerial code.

But ministers have said that because Ms Rayner’s departure comes before the changes kick in, it is a decision for her whether or not she takes the payment, which could be as much as £16,876 under existing rules.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s obviously right that we’ve changed the rules and are strengthening those rules, which will come into effect in October.

“But I’m not going to get into individual cases.”