Labour MP Catherine West today accelerated her campaign to move out of the ‘random backbencher’ club and towards becoming a household name. The Aussie-born left-winger sent shockwaves through Westminster over the weekend after seemingly out of nowhere threatening to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour crown.
While she stopped short of doing exactly that this afternoon, Wild West appeared to nail her colours to Andy Burnham’s mast as she kickstarted the process of an old-fashioned joint letter demanding an ‘orderly transition’ to anoint a new leader.
In her letter, the obscure MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet declared that the Prime Minister has until September to set out his exit plan. Staying true to the Aussie trait of bluntness, West published her letter less than two hours after Sir Keir delivered his set-piece fight-for-survival speech.
In a surprise to absolutely no one, the address inspired almost nobody and, within minutes of its conclusion, Labour politicians were privately and publicly declaring it curtains for Keir.
Making the first move to get the show on the road, West said:
‘The results last Thursday show that the PM has failed to inspire hope. What is best for the party and country now is an orderly transition.
‘I am hereby giving notice to No 10 that I am collecting names of Labour MPs to call on the Prime Minister to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September.
‘I want to thank everyone who has been in contact over the weekend to offer good wishes. We need our best top team in place to fight the next election. We owe working people up and down the country nothing less.
‘Please reply Yes if you think this is the right thing to do. Your name will not be made public for now.’
The Burnham-backed call for an ‘orderly transition’ now leaves all eyes on Wes Streeting. Should he stay quiet and bide his time, the chances of success in any contest would drastically decline. But will the Health Secretary take the bold option and make his own move while Burnham remains locked out of the Commons?
The ball appears to be in the Health Secretary’s court.
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