Labour chairman Ian Lavery calls for Keir Starmer to quit leadership election and support a woman The Labour MP said Sir Keir should stand aside in the race

Labour’s chairman has called for Sir Keir Starmer to quit the race to be the party’s next leader.

Ian Lavery, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said the frontrunner should “stand aside” to ensure that a woman leads the party. Sir Keir is the only male MP left in the race.

He made the remarks at an official campaign event for leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey, who is backed by much of the party’s left, including Corbyn supporting group Momentum.

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“We need a female leader of the Labour Party,” he told the crowd. “Stand aside Keir.”

‘Fantastic vision’

In a stinging attack, the party chairman, who considered a run for leader himself in the early staged of the process, criticised sections of the party during his rally speech, saying he is “not taking any lectures” from people who “have undermined Jeremy Corbyn”.

He continued: “If we stand with Rebecca Long-Bailey, Baileyism, we’ll have a leader who can take the fight to the Tories not in 2024 but in 2020. We’ve got a woman who is as strong as anyone within the party.

“She’s got fantastic vision, she’s got a fantastic history and a fantastic background, and she isn’t frightened of anybody – she’s not even frightened of me. And she is the right person for the job.”

Party divisions

The MP for Wansbeck has been outspoken has been outspoken about his criticism of the party’s Brexit position, which was shaped by Sir Keir.

Writing in the Daily Mirror, the former President of the National Union of Mineworkers wrote: “It is time to outline a positive vision of the future outside of the EU.”

Since it was founded in 1900, all of Labour’s elected leaders have been male. Margaret Beckett and Harriet Harman have both served as interim leaders, having been elected as the party’s deputy chief.