Sir Keir Starmer reveals how he will win over voters in the North West

Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants Labour to represent the ‘prospect of building something new and better’ for the North West and the rest of the country as he sets out his vision for his party.

In his newly published 12,000 word essay,  Sir Keir explains what he stands for based on various conversations he has had with potential voters, including a group of students in Blackpool who said they felt they needed to leave the town in order to get decent jobs.

Speaking with ITV Granada Reports, the Labour leader said: “The essay wasn’t written in the abstract. What I’ve written is a reflection of those conversations, so the voters I’m trying to persuade will see their fingerprints on what I’ve written.”

ITV Granada

Sir Keir went on to explain that, now the worst of the pandemic is ‘hopefully’ over, he and the Labour party are now able to make their argument about what happens next, with the upcoming party conference in Brighton being next on his list.

He said: “In our Conference there’s going to be a very strong focus on education, particularly on what we need to do to close the attainment gap and repair some of the damage done during the pandemic.

“We’re going to focus on quality jobs for the future – secure, high-skilled, well-paid jobs; a ten year health and social care plan; and security in relation to homes and to crime and disorder”.

ITV Granada

He also reiterated his view that Labour’s Metro Mayors need to be seen as ‘the frontline of the Labour party’, saying: “We happily have a lot of mayors and I want to showcase the different mayors we have across the country.

“Andy’s [Burnham] doing a fantastic job and I want him speaking at conferences, I want Tracy [Brabin] to speak at conferences, and I want Sadiq Khan to speak at conferences because we are in the very happy position of having many very good mayors and Metro Mayors. We want to showcase them, and that’s what we’ll be doing.”

As it stands, Labour is currently 5% points behind the Conservatives in the polls, despite the UK having ‘already suffered the worst death toll and the worst economic hit of any major European country’ under a Conservative government.