Boris Johnson was right, say UK Labour opponents

The pair’s remarks came ahead of the party’s local election campaign launch in the West Midlands, which contains numerous seats Labour hopes to regain from the Tories.

Many voters in what has been dubbed the Red Wall voted Conservative for the first time under Johnson’s leadership, but the party’s poll ratings have been in the doldrums for years. (Added a link to our Poll of Polls)

Rayner previously called Johnson a “pound-shop Trump,” while Starmer has said he “loathed” the ex-PM.

But the pair claim Johnson’s policy was “killed at birth” by current Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Johnson’s top finance minister, and that regions were not given “the levers” to make change happen.

The show of unity from Starmer and Rayner is also notable. It comes nearly three years after Starmer tried to demote Rayner after disappointing local election results against Johnson.

Johnson quit as prime minister in 2022 after a spate of resignations from his government in the wake of multiple scandals. He later stood down from parliament altogether after a damning report found he’d repeatedly misled MPs about his knowledge of the Covid-19 rule-breaching parties in Downing Street.