Lisa Nandy says Labour leadership drama has been full of ‘froth and nonsense’

Lisa Nandy has said she still supports Keir Starmer to stay on as Prime Minister, as she hit out at the ‘froth and nonsense’ of leadership speculation in the past week.

The Culture Secretary spoke out at the end of a torrid week for the government, with the PM’s grip on power looking more tenuous than ever.

Over the course of less than 24 hours earlier this week, Wes Streeting resigned as Health Secretary; Angela Rayner announced she had settled her tax affairs with HMRC; and a space was opened for Andy Burnham to return as an MP.

Despite no contenders formally announcing a bid to replace Starmer as Labour leader and Prime Minister, Streeting and Burnham have been hard at work setting out their stalls.

It was left to Nandy to defend the status quo and argue in favour of keeping Starmer at Downing Street in appearances on morning news shows today.

Speaking on Sky News, she said new details about alleged manoeuvrings by Streeting, Burnham and Angela Rayner seemed to be emerging ‘every hour on the hour’.

The Culture Secretary said: ‘Most of it has turned out to just be froth and nonsense.

‘We’ve got to get on with the job, we promised people we would bring change to their lives and we’ve got to take that fight out to the country and show we can do it.’

She later told Laura Kuenssberg’s BBC show voters had sent a ‘very clear message’ when they inflicted catastrophic losses on Labour in the Scottish, Welsh and local elections last week.

That message, Nandy argued, was that ‘people want more urgent, bolder, bigger, far more fundamental change in their lives’.

The leadership speculation represented ‘an inward-looking debate about personalities’, she added, when the party should be discussing how to meet the moment and deliver for disappointed voters.

Wes Streeting set out the ideas he would take into a potential contest in a speech at an event run by think tank Progress yesterday.

His most eye-catching proposal was taking the UK back into the EU – a plan blasted as ‘a bit odd’ by Nandy, who said it was not what people in her leave-voting area of northern England wanted to hear.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has shared his own principles in his first interviews since confirming he will seek to become Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election.

The by-election follows the resignation of former minister Josh Simons, who said he is standing down as an MP to give the Mayor of Greater Manchester a shot at returning to the Commons.

Speaking to the Mirror, Burnham revealed his campaign slogan is ‘For Us’, and said he would donated a portion of his MP salary to charity if elected.

He said: ‘We have left people without any breathing space, they can’t do anything anymore. Go on holiday, or go for a few pints, whatever it might be.

‘This country has an economy that isn’t working for ordinary people, and we’re going to have to change it.’

Burnham could face a strong challenge from Reform in the by-election, which is expected to take place next month.

That timeline means a leadership contest would likely not conclude until deep into the summer.

Keir Starmer has previously vowed to stand in any contest, though he has been urged by a number of his own MPs to set out a timetable for his departure.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.