David Lammy (Image: Getty)
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has insisted “you don’t change the pilot during a flight” amid a bruising set of local election results for Keir Starmer.
The Cabinet Minister was sent out overnight to defend the Prime Minister as Labour losses began to become clear.
When a change of leadership was put to him by the BBC, he said: “This is a tough set of elections. It’s definitely a mid-term set of elections and there’s a phenomenon, in the sense it’s a new phenomenon because we are seeing a much greater fragmentation, much more volatility in the electorate and in a sense, whilst I remember and John will remember this, back after the Iraq war we were losing in London to the Liberal Democrats in some areas.
“No, you don’t change the pilot during a flight. You carry on and you recognise too that governments sometimes, particularly incumbent governments, have it hard but of course we will reflect on what we’re hearing from the electorate. There’s a lot of frustration. Sometimes our mistakes have been heard more than our achievements so we do have to reflect.”
“This time, because of Reform you’re being squeezed on both sides.”
Former Shadow Chancellor Sir John McDonnell, who happened to be in the studio, told how he wished Mr Lammy “had not used that analogy”.
He insisted the pilot would sometimes change if there was a “nose dive”.
The Labour backbencher continued: “I wish you hadn’t used that analogy of the pilot to be honest. To be honest, sometimes you do if you’re in a nose dive.
“What I’m advocating is a serious consideration of all the factors that led us to what is a nightmare tonight. You can’t get away from listing those factors – it’s around policy, it’s around communications.
“It’s also around, yes, the leadership, and that isn’t just Keir Starmer but the leadership collective as well because the Cabinet made these decisions which I think have been horrendous mistakes but the one thing you don’t want is a precipitous coup.”
Lammy’s comments exploded on X with one user saying: “David Lammy confidently claims that you can’t change a pilot mid-flight. But if the pilot can no longer do the job effectively, he can indeed be replaced!”
Another said: “Really, I would mate if the plane was losing direction with a useless pilot at the helm. Mr. Lammy, like your leader you are a fool.”
Labour has so far lost 153 seats at local elections.
The party is not expected to do well in the Welsh Senedd elections or at Scotland’s Holyrood vote.