Northampton’s Labour MP hopefuls welcome Sir Keir Starmer election

Sir Keir takes over from Jeremy Corbyn following a resounding victory in the leadership election in which he secured 56 per cent of the vote.

Sally Keeble and Gareth Eales, who contested Northampton North and South respectively in December’s general election, both welcomed his appointment – despite both placing another candidate as their first choice.

Ms Keeble, who won three elections between 1997 and 2010 while serving as an MP, said Sir Keir was ‘phenomenally well qualified’.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m very much glad that he’s brought in a new generation and I also like the way that he’s going to put the national interest first when it comes to COVID-19 rather than being political and I think that’s a very welcome move.

“He’s a man who had huge achievements in his life before he even came into politics. He’s clearly very competent, and overwhelmingly people just want to win an election. We’ve lost four in a row, and he looks like a man who can win and who has appeal. He also gives us a fresh start.

“One thing that I like personally is that he has not been part of faction fighting. He has risen above that during all the time that he served in Jeremy’s cabinet, he kept true to his own principles and he didn’t get involved.

“I voted for two candidates. The first was Lisa Nandy and the second was Keir, but to be honest I would have had them joint first as I was very happy with either of them as they are both very good. I would like to see a woman leading the Labour party but I thought both ran very good campaigns.”

Her colleague Gareth Eales, who is also a sitting councillor on both Northampton Borough Council and Northamptonshire County Council, added: “Whilst not my own personal first preference, Keir Starmer has been elected with a huge democratic mandate, just as Jeremy Corbyn was and he now has my full support as the new leader of the Labour Party.

“In a time of national crisis, I think Keir will bring an assured calmness to the debate and as leader of the opposition, he will I’m sure hold the Government to account on their handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Sir Keir was first elected as an MP in 2015 and prior to that served as head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 until 2013.

Asked what voters could expect from the Labour party under his leadership, Mr Eales stated: “It is rather an inopportune time to think about electoral appeal, only from speaking to voters can we gauge that. Right now everyone’s focus should be on working within our communities and coming out the other side of this coronavirus crisis. Once that is over, normal campaigning service will resume and I look forward to taking our message back out to the people of Northampton South.”

Sir Keir takes over following a dreadful election campaign for Labour in December that saw them register the fewest amount of seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

In Northampton, Labour saw their share of the vote drop by 5.9 per cent in Northampton North, and by 4.3 per cent in Northampton South.

Asked to pass comment on the Corbyn era, Ms Keeble said: “I stood twice for election while Jeremy Corbyn was leader but my record shows that on both occasions that I actively nominated and campaigned for other candidates for the leadership. That says it all.

“I have always listened very carefully to what people in Northampton North say. It has always been very moderate in its approach. People just want better services, decent jobs and a good standard of living and I think that is the politics that I see reflected in Keir, and I didn’t see that coming out of Jeremy.”