Asked whether Sir Keir would lead the party into the contest, Home Office minister Alex Norris told Sky News: “Yes.”
Referring to comments by Labour MP Jonathan Brash suggesting this would not be the case, Mr Norris added: “What I would say to Jonathan and to others is, look at what we delivered this month alone.
“Huge decreases in waiting lists, minimum wage increases, triple lock increases. In my community alone, the lift on the two-child tax credit limit will take more than 5,000 children out of poverty.
“Action at the pumps, action on our energy bills.
“This is a Government that’s getting on with change, spearheaded by our Prime Minister, and we should be all pulling in that direction.”