Keir Starmer lashes into Jeremy Corbyn for losing 'time and time and time again'

Keir Starmer continued his war of words with Jeremy Corbyn by rejecting claims he had imposed “a straitjacket of conformity” on the Labour Party.

Sir Keir told reporters his party had “lost four elections in a row” and wanted to make them attractive to voters again.

In a thinly veiled barb aimed at his predecessor Mr Corbyn, he said that the Labour Party “was not formed to lose elections time and time and time again.”

Mr Corbyn, the former leader who is now standing for re-election as an independent having been thrown out of the party under Sir Keir, said he does not see “any appetite for political diversity”, adding: “ I just see a straitjacket of conformity.”

But Sir Keir said: “I don't accept that characterisation. I changed the Labour Party for a purpose. And that was to put us in a position to win an election. We lost four elections in a row.

“By the time I took over as Labour leader, I'd already lost three elections as a Labour party candidate.

“Now the Labour Party was not formed to lose elections time and time and time again, it was formed to improve the lives of millions of working people. That is impossible in opposition.

“And therefore yes, we changed the Labour Party. Yes, we did it with a steely determination, some say ruthlessness, and I'm not going to apologise for that.

“Because my purpose was to put the Labour Party in a position to win an election, which is what I hope we can do this Thursday.”

Sir Keir also claimed there are “no no-go” areas for the Labour Party to try and win.

The Labour leader, on the campaign trail in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, said he wants to target traditional Tory heartlands.

Sir Keir’s party are leading the Conservatives by around 20 points in several polls with just days left in the General Election campaign.

The Labour leader said: “There are no ‘no-go’ areas. I want to come to places like this, places that we wouldn’t normally win because, one, I think it’s important we see the task of earning every vote as one that is across the whole of the country.

“I do think in many cases people who have voted Tory for many years have become disillusioned with the Tory party now after 14 years of chaos and division. And they are looking elsewhere, and do want change.

“I haven’t in any constituency, this one included yet, encountered anybody whose response to me has been ‘things are pretty good, I really like it, I just want more of this’.”

Sir Keir, who has repeatedly stressed how he had changed the Labour Party since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn, said he would continue to insist on discipline from his MPs if he became prime minister.

He was speaking during a campaign visit to the Buckingham and Bletchley seat, which would require a 12.7-point swing to win and has symbolic importance in this election.