Keir Starmer becomes first opposition leader to hold regular radio phone-in with new LBC show

First ‘Call Keir’ will air next Monday

'I'm very conscious that one of my first jobs is to rebuild trust in the Labour Party with the public,' Sir Keir says (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Sir Keir Starmer will become the first leader of the opposition to host a regular half-hour phone-in on radio next week.

The Labour leader will join LBC for Call Keir, which will air during the station’s biggest programme, Nick Ferrari at Breakfast.

Sir Keir will be challenged and questioned by listeners across the UK about political issues of the day.

The first call-in will take place monthly and will begin next Monday at 9am.

Sir Keir said: “I’m very conscious that one of my first jobs is to rebuild trust in the Labour Party with the public.

“The best way of doing that is to listen to the public and to LBC’s listeners and hear what they’ve got to say.

“What I always get from these phone-ins is a real sense of what matters to people.

“Having people on, telling me what they think, is the only way to gauge what people think and to hear what their real concerns are. I’m looking forward to it.”

Several politicians have held phone-in shows on LBC in the past, including Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and Nick Clegg when he was deputy prime minister.

On Wednesday, Sir Keir accused the government of “winging” its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and told Mr Johnson to “get a grip”.

In an interview with The Guardian, he said: “I am putting the prime minister on notice that he has got to get a grip and restore public confidence in the government’s handling of the epidemic.

“If we see a sharp rise in the R rate, the infection rate, or a swathe of local lockdowns, responsibility for that falls squarely at the door of No 10.

“We all know the public have made huge sacrifices. This mismanagement of the last few weeks is the responsibility of the government.”

Sir Keir added: “My (worry) is that after a week or more of mismanagement, I’m deeply concerned the government has made a difficult situation 10 times worse. There is a growing concern the government is now winging it.

“At precisely the time when there should have been maximum trust in the government, confidence has collapsed.”