Labour needs ‘total reconstruction’ in wake of electoral defeats, warns Tony Blair

Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls for the "total reconstruction" of the Labour Party in the wake of the party's dire performance at the local elections, as two former party leaders joined the tirade of criticism of his leadership.

Tony Blair and Ed Miliband said that Sir Keir must go further to reform the party or risk never being able to recapture voters Labour lost at the 2019 general election.

Mr Miliband said it was not time "to blow the final whistle" on Sir Keir’s leadership, but that the party must be "bolder" after losing the Hartlepool by-election and a swathe of local council seats across England.

"Keir Starmer has provided new leadership, he has put the Remain-Leave argument behind us, but we all have a collective responsibility to show exactly what we stand for going forward," Mr Miliband said.

Writing in the New Statesman, Mr Blair warned Sir Keir that unlike Jeremy Corbyn he appeared "sensible but not radical", and urged him to take a position in the culture wars or face drifting into obscurity.

The former Prime Minister said Labour must engage with voters more on trans rights and calls to "defund the police" to prevent the Left-wing stance on those issues being defined by "woke" activists.

Mr Blair wrote that Britons "do not like their country, their flag or their history being disrespected", and advised Sir Keir to denounce hard-Left politics in the way that President Biden has done in the United States.

"The cultural message, because he is not clarifying it, is being defined by the 'woke' Left, whose every statement gets cut-through courtesy of the Right," he wrote.

"On cultural issues, one after another, the Labour Party is being backed into electorally off-putting positions.

"The Labour Party won’t revive simply by a change of leader. It needs total deconstruction and reconstruction," he added.

Separately, Mr Corbyn yesterday defended himself from criticism of his own leadership emanating from Sir Keir’s office.

"I think it's a bit rich to start blaming me for stuff that's been done over the past year that I've had absolutely no part of whatsoever," he told ITV.

"I do think that dumping on somebody because they're not there anymore is a bit weak. Do I take responsibility for it? No."

Ms Rayner, whom Sir Keir initially sacked on Saturday night before awarding her a raft of new jobs the next day, has said she had a "robust" conversation with him that ended in her promotion.

"We came to a decision over the weekend where both of us felt I could make the best opportunity and the best of my skills in supporting his leadership, and that's what I want to do in my new role," she said.

Rumours of an ongoing purge of Labour staff has swirled in Westminster, with sources telling The Telegraph that Sir Keir’s adviser Jenny Chapman could be axed next.

"I suspect things will begin to emerge in the next day or two," a shadow cabinet source said. "She’s a Keir ally but it’s becoming increasingly clear that she is part of the problem."