Kyle says any change to leadership must be resolved in ‘functional way’published at 09:29 BST
09:29 BST
Kuenssberg puts to Kyle that Labour is entering some form of “transition”, to which he says he doesn’t want to appear “delusional” that the prime minister is not being challenged.
He says what is important is that “we govern through whatever unfolds or may not unfold in the days ahead”, adding that potential challengers also want this to be the case.
Kuenssberg asks if this means an “orderly transition”. Kyle says no, and repeats that the country must be put first.
She notes that is a “world away” from what the PM is saying about fighting any leadership challenge. Kyle responds: “The reality right now is that there is process under way, there are people who seek to challenge Keir.” He adds that he doesn’t know “for fact” what the next few days will entail.
Any change that may or may not happen should be done in a “functional way”, he says, and Labour needs to learn from the Tories – including in understanding that it is not true that when a problem arises, “changing the person at the top would fix everything”.
The leadership is “more than one person”, he says and all of Labour needs to “bear responsibility” for the failures.
Asked whether there should be a contest, he refuses to answer but says in his view contests are always better.