Birmingham Labour MP Shabana Mahmood calls on Liz Truss to trigger general election

Labour’s campaign chief joked she is willing to sacrifice her waistline - but not her place in heaven - to secure victory at the next general election.

Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood became the latest senior Labour MP to challenge new Prime Minister Liz Truss to go to the polls, telling delegates: “My hope is one year from now I will stand here and report to you how we won a general election.”

Ms Mahmood, Labour MP for Ladywood and national campaign co-ordinator, said Labour is “back on its feet” after a “decade of defeat, decline and embarrassment” at the ballot box. But she joked the job is “completely incompatible with any kind of diet” and recalled one senior party figure offering her ham as part of a dinner during election talks, which she described as a “total no-go” given she is a Muslim.

Ms Mahmood, addressing a barely half-full conference hall in Liverpool, told delegates: “You’ll all be familiar with the campaign diet, which is now my daily reality.

“The long days, late nights and the trips around the country mean that healthy eating is basically out of the window.

“The problems with food don’t end there. I had lunch recently with a very senior Labour figure, we were discussing the massive electoral challenges that are facing our party, and our debate was punctuated with his offering of food from the prepared spread of different breads, lots of cheese, all very nice.

“The stumbling block was his repeated offer of the ham that he bought especially, which as a Muslim is obviously a total no-go. It was all very embarrassing and I was desperate not to cause any offence.

“Conference, I am willing to sacrifice my waistline for the general election but not so much my place in heaven.”

Ms Mahmood joked anyone who wants a seat in Parliament appears to have a “special GPS” to track her down. She said: “In fact, I’ve been lobbied three times for a seat already in the ladies’ loo this morning.

“So anyone planning to grab five minutes with me over the next few days to talk about seats that may or may not be selecting very soon just be warned: I have no shame for taking the credit in anyone’s future success wherever I can get it, but I have to level with you – I actually have no power over who gets selected.”

Ms Mahmood said Labour was projected to secure 291 seats in the Commons if the results of the May 2022 local elections were replicated at a general election. She added: “We would be the biggest party for sure, but that’s not good enough for me and I know that’s not good enough for you. It certainly isn’t good enough for the British people. I want a majority Labour government.”

A video featuring Tony Blair’s election success in 1997 was then played in the conference hall, in the latest sign of the party again seeking to embrace rather than disown his legacy.

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