Rachael Maskell says there is a question over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party – and Andy Burnham would be her choice if he is ousted.
The Labour MP for York Central says the party will review the leadership after the May local, Scottish and Welsh elections.
Many are predicting very bad results for Labour on 7 May, putting extra pressure on Sir Keir’s position as Prime Minister.
It follows the bruising affair of Peter Mandelson’s appointment, then sacking, as Washington ambassador, over his links with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking on David Dunning’s Late Show, to be broadcast this Sunday night at 10pm on YorkMix Radio, Ms Maskell was asked if Sir Keir should go if Labour does badly in the elections.
“I don’t think any Labour leader, or indeed leader of any political party, believes they’ve got a right to stay in position,” she said.
“They should be accountable to their members at all times, and to ultimately consider who is the best person to run the party – and to recognise that sometimes it’s right to stand aside for somebody else.”
She said: “I don’t want to see our country handed over to a party like Reform UK, because I really fear what that means” – and to avoid that “we need a strong Labour Party”.
Ms Maskell says she’s a champion of Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester.
“I’ve publicly given my support behind somebody like Andy Burnham, because I see what he’s doing in Manchester. The economy is booming.
“He’s brought the transport system together. He is delivering on public services. He’s eradicating homelessness. That’s the kind of Labour agenda that I sign up to and I want to see being spread further.
“Andy Burnham would be very much my choice. I supported him in 2015 for leader, and I do believe he’ll be a superb leader, because he has got that common touch.
“He is able to communicate and connect, but also to deliver on those real Labour values, which is what I believe the Labour Party is about.
“We haven’t seen that same kind of politics coming from Keir Starmer, so he would be my preference.
“But I recognise that this needs a good discussion and debate, because we’ve got to think what is in the interest of the future for the people of our country, and to address those big issues.”
She said Sir Keir has admitted it was a mistake to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, which was the right thing to do. But she criticised the Prime Minister and his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and their connections to think-tank Labour Together.
“What we have seen under Keir Starmer is this organisation Labour Together, which Peter Mandelson clearly has been controlling, with Morgan McSweeney really being this kind of toxic core, as I’ve seen it.
“We need that brought into the light a lot more – about Labour Together, where its money’s gone and what it’s done.
“So I think Keir Starmer has still got a lot of questions to answer. Of course, there is question over his leadership now of the party and and we’re right into an election period as well, so now’s probably not the right time to talk about leadership elections.
“But I think we’ll see the outcome of these elections, and then I think it’s right that a party regularly reviews who is at the top and the role that they’re playing.”
