Harriet Harman leads calls for an appointment that would ‘turbocharge’ a ‘complete culture change’ at No 10
Furious female Labour MPs have told Keir Starmer to appoint a woman as his de facto deputy to oversee a “complete culture change” in Downing Street after a series of scandals they say have exposed a No 10 “boy’s club”.
Harriet Harman, one of the party’s most senior figures, urged Starmer to revive the role of first secretary of state, a post previously occupied by Peter Mandelson under Gordon Brown. But she insisted the role must be held by a woman to “transform the political culture in government around women and girls”.
Starmer faced a packed meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Wednesday after a torrid prime minister’s questions during which he faced repeated questions about Mandelson and his former communications chief Matthew Doyle, who it was revealed had campaigned on behalf of friend who at the time had been charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Harman told Starmer to appoint a woman as first secretary of state, the most senior cabinet member after the prime minister and his de facto deputy. She said it would be “really powerful” if the role was given to a woman.
