‘The Government’s collapse has given us a huge chance’: Keir Starmer seizes on Tory disarray to put Labour on war footing ahead of the next election – starting with sacking of top aide

• Opposition Leader said Labour had ‘huge chance’ to take power at next election
• Plan accelerated as support for the Conservatives crashed in the polls
• A new survey for Redfield and Wilton Strategies gives Labour a 29-point lead

Sir Keir Starmer urged Labour to turn Tory disarray into an election win today as he unveiled a major party revamp designed to capitalise on the collapse in trust in the Government.

The Opposition Leader said Labour has a ‘huge chance’ to take power as he unveiled a reorganisation that merges his top team with party HQ.

The party itself is to move from its current Southside headquarters in Westminster for a new home, reported to be on the other side of the Thames in Blackfriars.

But the change comes at the expense of a top aide: Sir Keir’s chief of staff, Sam White, is leaving his post, after reports of tensions within the operation.

Sir Keir told staff today the restructuring had been planned ‘for a while’ but the plans had been accelerated as support for the Conservatives crashed in the polls.

A new survey for Redfield and Wilton Strategies last night gave Labour a 29-point lead.

‘The Government’s collapse has given us a huge chance. The instability means they could fall at any time,’ Sir Keir said.

‘Because of that we need to get on an election footing straight away.’

The Opposition Leader said Labour has a ‘huge change’ to take power. The party itself is to move from its current Southside headquarters (pictured) in Westminster for a new home

A new survey for Redfield and Wilton Strategies last night gave Labour a 29-point lead.

The changes will see policy and communications roles move into party HQ, reporting to general secretary David Evans.

In a joint all-staff call with Mr Evans, Sir Keir said: ‘These changes to the structures of the party will move us on to that election footing.

‘We’ve been planning this for a while but the scale of the Tory collapse has brought it forward.’

Beyond the departure of Mr White, who was appointed chief of staff last summer, no other jobs are at risk.

Sir Keir said Mr White’s exit was due to the changes to the scale of the Loto operation.

‘Sam has played an incredible role taking our operation to the next level. Under his leadership the team has become better and stronger,’ he said.

But ‘with the merger, running the leader’s office becomes a smaller role than Sam signed up for and we both agree, as we’re making this change, now is the right time to go’.

Mr White said: ‘The next phase of the campaign needs a different structure, but we part very much as friends with the intent to work together again in the future.

‘You’ll find no greater champion for a Starmer government than me.’

Labour’s factional civil war reignited last night as a leftwing ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested foul play as he was deselected in his safe London seat

Sam Tarry, the boyfriend Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner, hit out after being blocked from contesting his Ilford South constituency for the party at the next election.

Labour members in the east London seat, where Mr Tarry has a 24,000 majority, voted last night to replace him with the leader of Redbridge council, Jas Athwal.

Mr Athwal, a well-known figure locally, ran to stand against Mr Tarry in 2019. But amid accusations of foul play he was suspended by the party over a serious allegation shortly before the vote.

Sam Tarry was sacked from Labour’s front bench after giving broadcast interviews from an RMT picket line earlier this year

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and Sam Tarry who are in a relationship with each other

He was later fully cleared after Mr Tarry, who helped run Corbyn’s 2015 leadership campaign, was selected in his absence from the ballot. 

But this morning the MP demanded further details about the vote which led to his deselection, calling it a ‘manufactured political circus’. 

‘I am extremely concerned about the result, which does not reflect the feeling my campaigners met on the ground talking day in day out to members, or the extensive meticulous data we gathered on the campaign,’ he said.

‘I am taking some time to consider what’s next, but in order to be assured of the integrity of the result I am asking the party to share with me the full information of who cast electronic votes, by what method, and when they were cast.’

While candidate selection can be a fraught issue internally within Labour, it is relatively rare for a sitting MP to be de-selected by their local party. Mr Tarry is the first for a decade. 

It comes after he was fired from his role as a shadow transport minister in the summer after backing striking rail workers who brought the UK to a halt and visiting them on a picket line.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary and MP for neighbouring Ilford North, was among the first to offer congratulations to Mr Athwal. The Labour moderate, a critic of Corbybnistas, praised his ‘resounding victory’.

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