By Mark Andrews

Copyright expressandstar

Sonia Kumar, MP for Dudley, said that changing leader would do little to bring about the changes people expected of the new government.

Sir Keir has faced severe criticism over the past few days, particularly over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States, and his handling of Angela Rayner’s resignation.

Labour MP Clive Lewis has openly called for him to resign, while party colleague Richard Burgon said the PM could be out within months unless he changes course.

But Miss Kumar has joined Telford Labour MP Shaun Davies in saying that the Prime Minister needs to be given more time.

“I still have confidence in the Labour leadership, and the Prime Minister will continue to lead us into the next General Election,” she said.

“People want to see improvements to public services, they are concerned about immigration, and progress is being made, but it’s not going to happen overnight.

“I understand people’s concerns and their frustration, but we are having to deal with 14 years of failure from the previous Conservative government, that ran public services into the ground, and left us with a £22 billion black hole to fill in the public finances.

“Public services are now having to be rebuilt from Ground Zero.”

Miss Kumar said she was not privy to the details of who knew what and when at the time of Lord Mandelson’s appointment.

“Angela Rayner is a legend of the Labour Party who has done so much to inspire young girls and women, given the background that she had come from, but she was right to resign.”

Mr Davies said he too was angry about the state of public services and the economy, but the blame should be laid at the door of the previous Conservative administrations.

“We’ve had six prime ministers in 15 years; changing the PM again simply won’t make the changes this country needs more likely,” he said. “In fact it will be less likely.

“There is so much more this government needs to get right, and I will continue to stand up for Telford: attracting investment, like in the defence sector; better health services, like securing Telford’s first ever cancer treatment centre; and more money for public services – like our police, our council, our schools and our NHS.”

Shrewsbury’s Labour MP Julia Buckley said the Government had made big strides in its first year but that the Mandelson issue was particularly serious, and his friendship with Epstein was not something which should be ‘brushed aside’.

She said: “Our Labour government has made big changes in its first year, from banning zero-hour contracts to creating five million extra NHS appointments.

“These are achievements to be proud of, but we have not communicated them well enough to the public, and when trust is already fragile, that matters.

“That is why the news about Lord Mandelson is so serious. “His close friendship with a man convicted of serious child sexual offences cannot be brushed aside.

“At the heart of this scandal are real victims of horrific crimes, and their experiences should guide our decisions, not politics.”