Portsmouth's Labour MPs past and present back Keir Starmer as future party leader

From speaking to residents on the doorstep, and colleagues in the corridors of parliament, I know from Portsmouth to Penistone Labour voters felt let down and disillusioned.

If we are to rebuild our heartlands and regain the trust of the electorate, we must be led by a prime minister in waiting with eyes well and truly focused on the future.

Our next leader must be willing to pioneer the path back to power and be capable of forming a government. Why? Because by then our most vulnerable community members will have had to endure a decade and a half of

austerity.

Already we have seen a 250 per cent rise in the number of unsheltered homeless, 69 per cent spending reduction on youth services and four million British people living in deep poverty.

In opposition, I wake up and decide what I am going to say about these issues rotting away at our society. I want to wake up and decide what I am going to do.

The survival of the Labour party may depend on the next election. If we do not have the right leader in place, this could mark the beginning of the end for Europe’s largest party.

That is why I am supporting Keir Starmer. He is the candidate capable of healing the rift, rebuilding our party as a broad church and importantly, putting a Labour PM back in Number 10.

I am not alone in my support for Mr Starmer. I stand in solidarity with Portsmouth’s Labour MPs who trod the path before me. Party Grandees Syd Rapson, Lord Frank Judd along with Sarah McCarthy-Fry have publicly stated

support for the Holborn and St. Pancras MP, a testament to one of his greatest assets – the ability to unite.

A much-needed quality at this time of division and adversarial politics – both inside our party and across politics.

I’m backing Keir Starmer because I believe he’s got what it takes to win. To win back voters Labour lost in the last general election and reinvigorate those that have lost faith in the party’s ability to be formidable.

There is so much at stake. The lives of millions of British people and the future of the party that, whether you are a supporter or not, has shaped modern Britain through creating the NHS, introducing the minimum wage and founding the Open University.

With Keir Starmer at the helm, Labour can get on with confronting the challenges faced by our society and begin looking to build a better tomorrow.

Not just offering a radical plan but the opportunity to deliver a radical plan for Britain.

I urge anyone who shares this vision to join Labour and unite behind him.