Keir Starmer distances himself from Corbyn as he plots bid for Labour leadership

Opposition should have ‘taken down’ Tories’ ‘get Brexit done’ slogan, says shadow Brexit secretary

Sir Keir Starmer has said he could have done a better job than Jeremy Corbyn at “taking down” the Tories’ election slogan as he plots his bid for Labour leadership.

The shadow Brexit secretary has confirmed he is “seriously considering” entering the Labour leadership race to succeed Mr Corbyn.

Setting out his stall in an interview with The Guardian, the Remain-backing MP said Labour fell wide of the mark when it came to tackling antisemitism and the Conservative Party’s catchy campaign slogan.

He also called for the party to return to being a “broad church”, urging Labour not to stray “too far from its values”, suggesting he has been uncomfortable with the stewardship of his outgoing boss.

Some Labour figures have partly blamed Sir Keir and others from the party’s Remain wing for the recent dire election performance in which it lost dozens of seats in Brexit-backing areas.

However, while he admitted there was no hiding from the “devastating result”, Sir Keir said: “It’s important not to oversteer.”

He added: “The case for a bold and radical Labour government is as strong now as it was last Thursday. We need to anchor ourselves in that.

“I want trust to be restored in the Labour Party as a progressive force for good: and that means we have to win. But there’s no victory without values.”

Referencing the Tories’ “get Brexit done” slogan, he said: “We should have taken it down. Frankly I’d have liked the opportunity to have done it.”

He said there has been “too much factionalism” and called for Labour to return to being a “broad church” as he praised both Corbyn-backing Momentum activists and supporters of former leader Tony Blair.

Sir Keir is the only man who is widely-tipped to run for the top job.

He is likely to face a field of candidates vying to be the first woman to lead Labour.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey is being viewed as the continuity candidate to resume Mr Corbyn’s style of left-wing politics.

Sir Keir said: “I don’t think anybody would call me a Corbynista, but I’m a socialist.”

On Tuesday, Jenny Chapman, Sir Keir’s deputy in the Brexit brief until she lost her Darlington seat, ridiculed the idea that the next Labour leader must “have ovaries or a Northern accent”.

“What people are saying is that they want a leader that they feel could be the prime minister,” she said, recounting her experiences on the doorstep.

“It was about, ‘do I trust this person with my mortgage, with the future, with my children, with my pension? And I think that Keir has the qualities that they’re looking for.”