Former Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds has spoken about being demoted in Keir Starmer ’s cabinet for the first time, saying "you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth".
Ms Dodds was sacked as Shadow Chancellor and made party chairwoman in a reshuffle following last month's dismal local election result.
"In politics you've got to take the rough with the smooth," she told the Mirror during a visit to Worthing.
"Ultimately, Keir Starmer is the leader of the Labour Party – the manager of the football team – so it's his decision where people will go. I’m just happy that I am able to contribute to the party – particularly as party chair and leader of the policy review."
Ms Dodds visited the West Sussex seaside town to meet with Dr Beccy Cooper, who in 2017 became the party's first councillor in Worthing for more than 40 years.
Since then the party has built on her success – gaining 15 seats in just four years and coming one seat away from knocking the Tories out of power in last month's local elections.
"There's no silver bullet for the Labour Party, we’ve obviously had some challenging election results," she said. "But we do have, I think, those bright spots where Labour is very obviously delivering for local people."
Asked what national issues had come up on the doorstep in May’s election, Dr Cooper said: “Some people find our current leader more palatable, some people are more neutral about it.
"But by and large, Worthing is interested in what the Labour group can do for Worthing. And that’s not a bad thing for Westminster to understand. All politics is local, and you have to listen to what people are saying, whether you like it or not."
She added: "We all have the same or very similar needs - so when people talk about our hopes and fears - you can either lead by amplifying people’s fears or you can reflect and empower people’s hopes."
Ms Dodds said making sure people felt they were being heard on everyday issues – and not just the Westminster agenda – was something the party would "absolutely" take away.
"Many people would say the Conservatives had taken people living here completely for granted, they haven't been listening to them," she said. "Beccy's been standing up for them. That's really made a difference."
She added: "I've really learned they are that voice for people on those big issues. So that's something that we need to be doing everywhere."
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