Voters' 'hostility' to Labour under Jeremy Corbyn has gone, says Keir Starmer

People are once again open to voting Labour with the "hostility" that existed towards the party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership now gone, Keir Starmer has claimed.

The Labour leader admitted that it would be "foolhardy" to assume former Labour supporters were ready to "switch their vote back" after the party's historic defeat in 2019.

But he claimed that his 'summer tour' of the country showed that the public were now "open to being persuaded" despite the party's poor showing in the polls.

"They need us to earn their vote, but the hostility there was to Labour in recent years is gone," he told the Mirror.

"I'm not saying for a moment that people have already made their minds up, but they are open to us.

Keir Starmer said his summer tour of the country had shown voters were open to being persuaded (Getty Images)

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"Therefore it's now for us - and this is what I'll be doing at conference and into the autumn - to make the case for a better Britain as we come out of the pandemic.

"They want us to make that case. They want to consider it."

Mr Starmer has faced internal criticism over his leadership as Labour fails to cut through in the polls despite the Government's woes.

Some Labour MPs believe that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has not ruled out a return to Westminster, could be a future leadership rival.

Mr Starmer refused to say whether he would welcome Labour's so-called 'King of the North' back in Parliament, where he would be in a powerful position to challenge him.

"Andy has just successfully been re-elected as the Labour metro mayor and he's made absolutely clear that's what he intends to do," he said.

The Labour leader has also faced pressure from the party's union allies, with new Unite chief Sharon Graham warning there would be "no more blank cheques" unless Labour did more to address the concerns of her members.

"We have done a lot on workers' rights and we'll do more," Mr Starmer insisted, highlighting his opposition to fire and rehire, as well as a party review on the issue.

And he batted away claims that his predecessor turning up at Labour conference at the end of the month would be a headache.

"No, Jeremy is free to come, that's not a problem," he claimed.