Starmer backs candidates as MP calls on him to quit
PA MediaThe prime minister has denied the accusation he is damaging the chances of Labour candidates at next month's elections by refusing to resign.
Labour MP for Hartlepool Jonathan Brash has called for Sir Keir Starmer to quit amid mounting speculation over his future in the wake of the Lord Mandelson vetting scandal, but during a visit to Newcastle, the PM defended his record in office.
Sir Keir said he had a "big session with activists and local candidates" and thanked them for the work they have done "delivering really tangible benefits for the North East".
He defended his record in government of "record investment into the NHS", free school meals and scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
Brash, elected in 2024 to the seat once held by Lord Mandelson, told GB News on Wednesday it was "not a case of if, it's when" Sir Keir will leave Downing Street, and he did not think anyone "reasonably expects the prime minister to lead the party into the next election".
Sir Keir spent the morning at the Newcastle United Foundation, visiting the NUCASTLE community centre and watching football training.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said: "I had a big session with activists and candidates last night, you get a real sense from them as to why they do this and it's because they believe in their communities.
"People who care about their communities want to deliver change and they are in the middle of that."
PANewcastle is one of five Labour-run councils in Tyne and Wear staging local elections on 7 May.
Like authorities in Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead, it also has "all-out" elections this year – meaning every single council seat is up for grabs.
North Tyneside and Hartlepool Borough Council also have elections, where a third of seats will be contested.
"A huge amount has been done nationally and locally in the North East, of course there is more that we need to do, but we have invested in our public services," Sir Keir said.
"This is a government that wants to deliver for the North East and will deliver in the North East."
