WATCH: Liz Kendall says Starmer is “right person” to lead Covid-19 response

Liz Kendall has declared that Keir Starmer is “the right person to lead Labour’s response” to the coronavirus crisis and said that he has appointed “capable and competent people” to the new shadow front bench.

In an interview with Sky News this morning, the MP for Leicester West said that “there are still very big decisions that the government faces” and that people “will want to scrutinise those”.

She said that the country also needs to discuss “what kind of recovery that we want” and that the new Labour leader is “the right person to lead those debates”.

Kendall also said that Starmer was “absolutely right” to talk about antisemitism within the party at the weekend, and said: “I am sure Keir will want to look forensically at the processes the Labour Party has had in place.”

Starmer was elected as the new Labour leader after the three-month process drew to a close on Saturday. He won in the first round of counting with 56.2% of first preferences.

Kendall stood to be the leader of the Labour Party herself in the 2015 leadership contest, in which she came in fourth place and Jeremy Corbyn was first elected.

The number of recorded coronavirus cases in the UK now stands at 47,806 but the true figure is thought to be higher. So far, 4,934 deaths have been recorded in relation to the virus.