Keir Starmer is facing a new row within his party (Image: Getty)
Labour’s Deputy Leadership election has sparked bitter divisions and claims of a “stitch up” just says after it was kicked off by Angela Rayner’s resignation. The party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) will today draw up plans for the election of a new deputy leader after Ms Rayner quit the job for underpaying stamp duty by up to ￡40,000. Sir Keir Starmer has appointed a new Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, other roles held by Ms Rayner, but the choice of deputy leader is down to party activists.
However, left-wingers have responded angrily to suggestions that the contest could be fast-tracked. MP Richard Burgon, who was a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said on X: “I’ve been warning about attempts to fix the Deputy Leadership election – and what I’ve heard is now being proposed is the mother of all stitch-ups. Just a couple of days to secure MPs’ nominations! This is a desperate move to keep Labour members’ voices out of this race and to dodge serious discussion on what’s gone wrong over the last year - from the positions on disability benefits cuts, on winter fuel payments, on Gaza and more.
Article continues belowADVERTISEMENT
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Starmer nightmare as Angela Rayner's replacement could be...Angela Rayner
GMB ‘bias' row erupts as Ed Balls remark leaves fans demanding axe
One man survived Keir Starmer's cabinet bloodbath - now watch him tear the country apart
The Angela Rayner replacement who would be an even bigger nightmare for Keir Starmer
GB News halted for major 'breaking news' as Starmer has day from hell
Labour in utter chaos after Angela Rayner resignation - what happens next?
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
Keir Starmer's nightmare is just beginning with Angela Rayner resignation
Labour civil war intensifies as fight to replace Angela Rayner kicks off
Angela Rayner dealt huge blow by Jeremy Corbyn as ex-pal blasts 'enormous mistake'
Politics LIVE: First Cabinet minister enters race to replace Angela Rayner
Three reasons panicking Labour has fallen into a trap set by Nigel Farage
Labour minister torn apart on GB News over migrant vow: 'Becoming nonsense'
'It's happening!' Nigel Farage makes huge Reform prediction after Angela Rayner quits
Starmer nightmare as Angela Rayner's replacement could be...Angela Rayner
GMB ‘bias' row erupts as Ed Balls remark leaves fans demanding axe
One man survived Keir Starmer's cabinet bloodbath - now watch him tear the country apart
The Angela Rayner replacement who would be an even bigger nightmare for Keir Starmer
GB News halted for major 'breaking news' as Starmer has day from hell
Labour in utter chaos after Angela Rayner resignation - what happens next?
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
Keir Starmer's nightmare is just beginning with Angela Rayner resignation
Labour civil war intensifies as fight to replace Angela Rayner kicks off
Angela Rayner dealt huge blow by Jeremy Corbyn as ex-pal blasts 'enormous mistake'
Politics LIVE: First Cabinet minister enters race to replace Angela Rayner
Three reasons panicking Labour has fallen into a trap set by Nigel Farage
Labour minister torn apart on GB News over migrant vow: 'Becoming nonsense'
'It's happening!' Nigel Farage makes huge Reform prediction after Angela Rayner quits
Starmer nightmare as Angela Rayner's replacement could be...Angela Rayner
GMB ‘bias' row erupts as Ed Balls remark leaves fans demanding axe
One man survived Keir Starmer's cabinet bloodbath - now watch him tear the country apart
The Angela Rayner replacement who would be an even bigger nightmare for Keir Starmer
GB News halted for major 'breaking news' as Starmer has day from hell
Labour in utter chaos after Angela Rayner resignation - what happens next?
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
Keir Starmer's nightmare is just beginning with Angela Rayner resignation
Labour civil war intensifies as fight to replace Angela Rayner kicks off
Angela Rayner dealt huge blow by Jeremy Corbyn as ex-pal blasts 'enormous mistake'
Politics LIVE: First Cabinet minister enters race to replace Angela Rayner
Three reasons panicking Labour has fallen into a trap set by Nigel Farage
Labour minister torn apart on GB News over migrant vow: 'Becoming nonsense'
'It's happening!' Nigel Farage makes huge Reform prediction after Angela Rayner quits
Read more: David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Read more: Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
Angela Rayner quit as Deputy Leader on Friday (Image: Getty)
“This outrageous timetable shows a leadership that’s unwilling to listen and to learn the lessons needed if we’re to rebuild support and stop Nigel Farage.”
The contest threatens to be a huge headache for Sir Keir as senior figures are demanding it should become a debate about the direction of the party.
Powered By
10 Sec
312.2K
23
UN chief reacts after Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar
Next
Stay
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham suggested Labour needed “a different style” with MPs listened to more. He said in a BBC interview: “I think we need to recognise that having a leadership contest for the deputy leader in a period of government, you know, you don’t want everything sort of opened up on what the government’s doing but I think it is right to have a discussion about the internal management of the Labour Party and in a time where the scale and the nature of the challenge we face is such as it is, you need everybody pulling together, all parts of the party pulling together and that points to a party management style that is less factional and more pluralistic.
Sponsored
This Simple Trick Turns Your Garden Hose Into a High-Pres sure Cleaner
Undo
“Labour MPs need to be, they need to listen to them more and respect them more. You know, they were the ones who if you like caused the change in terms of winter fuel and disability benefits but, you know, they shouldn’t be punished for that. I see good people, good MPs losing the whip, people like Rachel Maskell, that doesn’t seem fair to me. It didn’t happen in the governments I was in, in Gordon Brown’s government or Tony Blair’s government. We need a different style here so that everyone is included and we pull together.”
Labour MP Liam Byrne said Labour should resist the temptation to move to the right to take on Reform. He said on X: “I see speculation fast building about runners & riders for Labour’s deputy leadership.
“With Reform’s rise it is easy to lose sight of a simple truth: Labour is losing far more votes to Lib Dem’s/ Greens than Reform. Reform must be taken on - & there’s a way to do that - but we HAVE to re-mobilise the Coalition of Decency to win again.”
There are also calls for the next Deputy Leader to be a woman. Sir Keir has caused concern among some colleagues by naming Justice Secretary David Lammy his new Deputy Prime Minister, a post that many would have expected to go to the next deputy leader of the party.
Baroness Harriet Harman told the BBC Radio’s Today programme on Monday: “I think that, in terms of extending the breadth of the leadership, it probably needs to be somebody from outside London and it definitely needs to be a woman.
“I don’t think we can have a male Prime Minister, a man as deputy prime minister and a male deputy leader of the party.
“We need somebody who is not a counterpoint to the leader, but is complementary to the leader, will broaden the reach of the leader and galvanise the party.”
She added: “I’m very dismayed and disappointed that Angela Rayner, who was an enormous figure in the party and an incredibly important minister in Government, is no longer here.
“This is an election for the deputy leadership that nobody wanted, but I think that an election for the deputy leadership when Labour is in Government, just shortly after our first year of government, is very different than a deputy leadership election when you’re trying to set out a new direction for the party, rebuild the party after an election defeat.
“I think if the party are getting on with it rapidly, that’s right.”
New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has been tasked with tightening the Government’s grip on immigration, has not yet made a decision on whether to run, it is understood.
Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry became the first high-profile figure to announce she was thinking about a bid on Sunday.
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
Keir Starmer's nightmare is just beginning with Angela Rayner resignation
Labour civil war intensifies as fight to replace Angela Rayner kicks off
Angela Rayner dealt huge blow by Jeremy Corbyn as ex-pal blasts 'enormous mistake'
Politics LIVE: First Cabinet minister enters race to replace Angela Rayner
Three reasons panicking Labour has fallen into a trap set by Nigel Farage
Labour minister torn apart on GB News over migrant vow: 'Becoming nonsense'
'It's happening!' Nigel Farage makes huge Reform prediction after Angela Rayner quits
Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the WorldTopgentlemen.com |
Starmer nightmare as Angela Rayner's replacement could be...Angela Rayner
GMB ‘bias' row erupts as Ed Balls remark leaves fans demanding axe
One Attachment Makes Your Hose Blast Away Years of DirtJetNoz |
One man survived Keir Starmer's cabinet bloodbath - now watch him tear the country apart
The Angela Rayner replacement who would be an even bigger nightmare for Keir Starmer
GB News halted for major 'breaking news' as Starmer has day from hell
Labour in utter chaos after Angela Rayner resignation - what happens next?
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
Keir Starmer's nightmare is just beginning with Angela Rayner resignation
Labour civil war intensifies as fight to replace Angela Rayner kicks off
Angela Rayner dealt huge blow by Jeremy Corbyn as ex-pal blasts 'enormous mistake'
Politics LIVE: First Cabinet minister enters race to replace Angela Rayner
Three reasons panicking Labour has fallen into a trap set by Nigel Farage
Labour minister torn apart on GB News over migrant vow: 'Becoming nonsense'
'It's happening!' Nigel Farage makes huge Reform prediction after Angela Rayner quits
Starmer nightmare as Angela Rayner's replacement could be...Angela Rayner
GMB ‘bias' row erupts as Ed Balls remark leaves fans demanding axe
One man survived Keir Starmer's cabinet bloodbath - now watch him tear the country apart
The Angela Rayner replacement who would be an even bigger nightmare for Keir Starmer
GB News halted for major 'breaking news' as Starmer has day from hell
Labour in utter chaos after Angela Rayner resignation - what happens next?
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Andrew Neil makes dire prediction - and it's terrible news for Keir Starmer
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
Keir Starmer's cabinet reshuffle is a disaster and now the writing is on the wall for PM
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Emily Thornberry showed true colours with 'snobby' England flag tweet that cost her job
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 Starmer 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.”
Read next
SUBSCRIBEInvalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy