Labour deputy leader says Keir Starmer was manager who ‘lost the dressing room’

Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell made the claim on the BBC this morning

Labour’s deputy leader claims outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer “lost the dressing room” resulting in his resignation. Lucy Powell made the claim while talking to presenter Victoria Derbyshire on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning.

Asked why Labour was getting rid of the Prime Minister, the deputy leader said: “Well, look, I mean, I think it’s not me getting rid of him, but I want to focus really on the positive contributions that he has made, but as he said himself on the steps of Downing Street on Monday – we’re here in the middle of the World Cup, aren’t we?

“When the manager loses the dressing room, the manager often takes the decision that it’s the time for them to go, and I think that’s the decision that he has made.

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“But he has served our party well, and we do owe him a great deal of gratitude, and now it’s time for us to move on to a new phase, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”

Ms Powell was also asked whether Ed Miliband would be a good Chancellor amid reports he is Andy Burnham’s first choice. When asked whether she thought Mr Miliband would be good at running the Treasury, the Labour deputy leader said: “Yes I do actually, but actually I think this is a slightly distracting conversation, because I think we’ve all got a really important job to do.”

She added that the cost of living should be the focus and not “tittle-tattle” about Cabinet positions.

With Andy Burnham likely to be the next leader of the Labour Party following Sir Keir’s resignation, Ms Powell backed a woman lead Labour at some stage.

Asked whether she was disappointed that another man was set to take the top job, the deputy leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Well, look, I mean, actually, what I’ll also say is, I was working out this morning, I joined the Labour Party in the 1980s and actually in that time we’ve only, since Neil Kinnock, we’ve only had six leaders of the Labour Party. So we do generally keep leaders for quite a few years in the Labour Party.

“Of course, I’d like to see a woman leader at some stage, but this is a difficult job that brings a huge amount of exposure to your, to yourself, to your family, you know.

“It really is a relentless job, and I’m just glad that actually someone does want to do it. And I’m pleased that actually what it looks like is that we’re probably going to have just one candidate in Andy Burnham.”

She said earlier in the interview that speculation about Cabinet positions under a potential Burnham government was “unedifying”.