Starmer was first elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras in 2015Flickr/Chatham House

“Keir encapsulates the best of Britain” and is “the exact opposite of Boris Johnson,″ Cambridge Labour MP Zeichner told the Cambridge Independent last week.

Zeichner expressed his support for the Labour leadership candidate the same day on Twitter, retweeting a video produced by Starmer’s election campaign.

The Cambridge MP explained that he is supporting Starmer because he has “gravitas, assurance, and experience”, and that he believes Starmer has the support of local Labour voters.

“[Keir Starmer] has been a regular visitor to Cambridge to help me and the Cambridge Labour Party, and I was struck by how many people on the doorstep spontaneously expressed the hope that he would one day lead Labour. That is what Labour needs - a leader the country wants. That’s good for Labour, and even better for Britain.”

Zeichner also praised the leadership candidate’s personal qualities.

“People like working with him, and for him, he inspires confidence and respect, he listens. He is exactly the kind of person everyone would like as a colleague, and as a boss - the exact opposite of Boris Johnson.”


READ MORE

Mountain View

Daniel Zeichner re-elected as Labour holds Cambridge

The news comes as the first round of Labour’s leadership contest, in which candidates must be nominated by at least 22 MPs and MEPs, closes. The five contenders progressing to the second round, in which they must gain the backing of trade unions and local Labour party groups, are Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy, Emily Thornberry, and Jess Phillips. Labour party members will then elect a leader from the resulting shortlist of candidates.

Starmer has consistently adopted a pro-EU position in his role as Shadow Brexit Secretary, although he now accepts that Britain will leave the EU on 31st January.

With 89 nominations and the support of Britain’s largest trade union, Unison, Starmer is almost certain to be included in the final ballot.

Starmer was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008-13 and was awarded a knighthood in 2014. He was first elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras in 2015.

The results of the leadership election will be announced on 4th April.