New generation to drive Labour forward, says Tom Watson

The former Labour deputy leader praised Sir Keir Starmer for heralding a “new beginning” after the party's disastrous general election result last year.

He also backed Jeremy Corbyn's successor for showing "great maturity" by offering to work with the Government for the good of the country during the coronavirus crisis.

It came as Sir Keir assembled a new shadow cabinet which saw him sack Corbyn loyalists including Richard Burgon, Ian Lavery and Barry Gardiner.

Mr Watson, who was the MP for West Bromwich East for 19 years before standing down ahead of December's election, told the Star he was impressed with the early stages of Sir Keir's leadership.

"With the shadow cabinet he is sending a very clear signal that the leadership of the Labour Party is passing over to a new generation that is not tainted with the battles of the past," he said.

"That seems to me to be a very wise thing for him to do. I wish them all well in the tough months ahead."

Mr Watson said the party's focus for the immediate future must be on helping the national battle against Covid-19.

He wished Boris Johnson a speedy recovery and said: "I was incredibly relieved that Keir Starmer's first act as leader was to put the Labour Party at the service of the country in working closely with Boris Johnson to fight this virus," he added.

"It shows a great maturity, and perhaps even a new beginning for the party. As a country, we have all got to dig in and work together to put the coronavirus behind us.

"There is no more important issue facing the country now. Everyone in public service must do everything they can to support the Prime Minister and his team in getting the country back on track."

Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden, said the new shadow cabinet looked like "a very necessary and welcome turning of the page".

"Keir Starmer appears to understand what a huge task it will be to get the public to take another look at Labour having rejected the party so decisively only a few months ago," he said.

"These are the first steps, but they are steps in the right direction."

Announcing his shadow cabinet, Sir Keir made Lisa Nandy, one of the candidates he defeated to become Labour leader, his shadow foreign secretary.

Anneliese Dodds, who only became an MP in 2017, was given the role of shadow chancellor, replacing John McDonnell, while Nick Thomas-Symonds, a barrister, has taken over from Diane Abbott as shadow home secretary.

Rachel Reeves was made shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and newly elected deputy, Angela Rayner, was appointed as Labour Party chair.

Nick Brown was re-appointed Chief Whip and Jonathan Ashworth kept the health brief.

Andrew Gwynne, took a swipe at Mr Corbyn as he stepped down as shadow communities secretary, describing his role as campaign co-ordinator as "frankly torturous".

He said: "My role as NCC was almost completely sidelined by the time of the 2019 general election. That cannot be allowed to ever happen again."

Meanwhile, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee by-elections have also been seen as a victory for the moderates, with Johanna Baxter and Gurinder Singh Josan chosen to replace Corbynites Navendu Mishra and Claudia Webbe as local party representatives.

Mr Singh Josan, a former Sandwell councillor who sits on the Police and Crime Commissioner’s strategic crime board, said: “Now for change and for putting members first, tackling anti-Semitism and a broad-church Labour Party.”