Union chief calls for Angela Rayner to replace Keir Starmer or risk Labour defeat to Reform UK

The head of a Labour-affiliated union has called for Angela Rayner to replace Keir Starmer, warning that Starmer risks leading the party into a heavy election defeat to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.Maryam Eslamdoust, the general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), told the Guardian she wanted the former deputy prime minister to take charge after this month’s Gorton and Denton byelection.Eslamdoust is the first union leader to call openly for Rayner to oust Starmer, adding to pressure on the prime minister at the end of his most difficult week in office.She said: “I think it’s time that the Labour Party had a woman leader. The Tories have had three women prime ministers and four leaders and we’ve had none. I think Angela Rayner is a credible figure. I think some women MPs are making a lot of noise around there needs to be a woman deputy, but if they’re serious about that, they need to put their money where their mouth is and support Angela Rayner.”She said she felt Labour was likely to lose the Gorton and Denton byelection later this month and that Starmer should step down as a result.“It’s not as simple as one dodgy appointment,” she said, referring to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador last year. “It’s a series of poor political judgments. We’re in a period of economic and geopolitical instability with a prime minister that has exercised cumulative poor political judgment, so trust in him is completely gone.”Maryam Eslamdoust, the TSSA’s general secretary, once advised the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The GuardianA spokesperson for Rayner said: “There is no contest and no vacancy. Angela has been clear Labour must come together, avoid distraction and work as a team to deliver for the public.”Starmer has attempted to restore unity in his fractured party after a week in which he has lost his chief of staff, his communications director and been denounced by the Labour leader in Scotland.He managed to secure the backing of the cabinet on Monday afternoon after Anas Sarwar, who wants to become Scottish first minister at May’s elections, said he had no confidence in the prime minister.Officials in Downing Street feared Sarwar’s comments could prompt a widespread coup attempt but were relieved when every key Labour figure in Westminster – including Rayner – publicised their support for the prime minister.Many in the party still believe, however, that Starmer is likely to face a leadership challenge before long, potentially after the byelection or the local elections in May.Several allies of Wes Streeting said this week that they expected the health secretary to challenge the prime minister in the aftermath of the local elections if not before. Streeting has denied he is planning to do this.Rayner, meanwhile, put further pressure on Starmer on Thursday to reduce taxes on the hospitality industry. “Customers just aren’t there in the way they used to be as business rates remain punishingly high, energy bills soar and costs in your supply chains and VAT bite,” she told an event in Liverpool. “We need to recognise that hospitality and nightlife require extended support – not handouts.”Eslamdoust originally called for Starmer to step down on Monday, becoming one of two Labour-affiliated general secretaries to advocate publicly for a change in leadership, alongside Steve Wright, the head of the Fire Brigades Union.There are 11 unions affiliated with the party in total, of which the TSSA, which donated about £30,000 to the party last year, is one of the smallest.Eslamdoust, who once advised the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said she wanted Rayner to take the party to the left, including with stronger protections for workers rights and nationalisations in the rail, water and energy industries.A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer is one of only four Labour leaders ever to have won a general election. He has a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change and that is what he will do.”Eslamdoust’s backing of Rayner kickstarts what is likely to be a struggle between her and Streeting to secure more union backing. While Rayner has won the support of many union leaders with her employment rights agenda, she has also angered Unite, one of the biggest unions in the country, with her opposition to the Birmingham bin strikes.