Harriet Harman, who was given a new role by Sir Keir Starmer last month as he sought to shore up his position as leader, says Labour MPs should be given a vote on ‘who they want as prime minister’.
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The baroness was appointed adviser on women and girls in May as the Prime Minister tried to stabilise his position after he suffered a disastrous set of election results in Wales, Scotland and English councils.
After congratulating Andy Burnham for his ‘fantastic’ win in the Makerfield by-election, Lady Harman told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:
“The way you get to be prime minister and the way you govern the country is by having the support of the majority of party in Parliament. So, whoever’s prime minister has to have the support of Labour MPs, and I think what should happen is that the three contenders, which is obviously Keir Starmer, who’s the Prime Minister; Andy Burnham, who’s the challenger; and Wes Streeting, who’s also a challenger; should be got in a room by the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Lucy Powell, and the chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Jess Morton, to agree a process whereby the Labour MPs choose who they want.”
Asked if ‘just the MPs’ should make that choice, the baroness replied:
“Yes, because you can’t govern without the support of Labour MPs, so the question is, in opposition, it’s the party that chooses who they want to put before the country, but once you’ve got a government, once you’re in government, it’s really commanding the support of those MPs. But that’s my view, I think the process should be Labour MPs choosing, and I think that’s the best thing for stability of government, but the most important thing is that those three men are got into a room and they do not leave until they agree what the process is. We cannot have a protracted period of wrangling.”
She added, ‘there must be a woman in the contest’ as ‘we cannot have a male beauty parade again’.
