Angela Rayner has admitted ‘forensic’ Sir Keir Starmer is ‘like a civil servant’ but said he ‘has to lean in to who he is’ as the Prime Minister readies a relaunch of his premiership.
After five months in No10, Sir Keir will tomorrow use a major speech to unveil his ‘Plan for Change’ and set ‘milestones’ in key policy areas in a bid to deliver on his election promises.
Despite ministers insisting the speech is not a ‘reset’, it is being viewed as an attempt by the PM to get his premiership back on track following a rocky start to life in Downing Street.
He is facing ongoing protests from pensioners, farmers and businesses over Labour’s tax and spending plans.
Sir Keir has also lost a Cabinet minister over a fraud row, been forced to sack Sue Gray as his chief of staff, and suffered a damaging row over his ‘freebies’.
Ahead of his big speech, Ms Rayner was asked if Sir Keir needed to ‘give it more oomph’ as she was quizzed about her past claim that he needs to ‘put some more welly into it’.
Angela Rayner has admitted ‘forensic’ Sir Keir Starmer is ‘like a civil servant’ but said he ‘has to lean in to who he is’ as the Prime Minister readies a relaunch of his premiership
Ahead of the PM’s major speech, Ms Rayner was asked if Sir Keir needed to ‘give it more oomph’ as she was quizzed about her past claim that he needs to ‘put some more welly into it’
Appearing on BBC Politics Live, the Deputy PM replied: ‘I think Keir has really grown as Prime Minister, I think he’s taken to the job.
‘He’s done a fantastic job internationally – resetting our relationships, he’s also set out our missions.
‘Now, the Plan for Change is about really honing in on what the public can actually tangibly say, ‘well, this is what we can expect to see as an outcome from the changes that we’ve made’ after the very difficult inheritance that we got.’
Pressed about Sir Keir’s personality, Ms Rayner added: ‘The way in which we’ve all worked, both Keir’s style, my style and the rest of the Cabinet is about how we complement each other.
‘Talking about leadership, I think leaders often have to recognise their skills and the way in which they can deliver, and also their weaknesses and how they can bring a team around them.
‘I think that’s what the PM is able to do, is bring a team around him, and recognise that actually the way in which he approaches a challenge is very forensic, and he goes through it.
‘I’ve described him before as like a civil servant in the way he does it, because he has a duty and he feels that public service duty to deliver for the people.’
Ms Rayner suggested Sir Keir – a former lawyer – should ‘lean in to who he is’ to show ‘authenticity’, adding: ‘Keir has to be him.
‘I think the delivery of what he’s able to achieve. Look at what he achieved in the Labour Party, in 2019 no one would have predicted that we would be in Government in July of this year.
‘He’s achieved that so I would say judge him on his delivery as opposed to what character people want him to be.’
