A FORMER ally of Boris Johnson has recommended Lisa Nandy replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader.

Dominic Cummings wrote on his blog this afternoon that if the party were to have success in the next election, it should move its headquarters out of London and ditch its current leader.

He has also recommended that the party leader does not get involved in issues such as transgender rights, or other such “culture wars” topics.

Mr Cummings was Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser until late last year, when he quit Downing Street after a row involving the PM’s wife Carrie.

He has since accused the Prime Minister and former health secretary Matt Hancock of incompetence, lying and mishandling the coronavirus pandemic, causing the deaths of thousands of people in the country.

Writing this afternoon, Mr Cummings said he would recommend replacing Sir Keir with a “woman from the Midlands who can focus on the public and build a team”.

Continuing, Mr Cummings said: “I don’t know much about Labour MPs, and obviously you need to focus group the hell out of this, but Lisa Nandy seems the closest fit to the job description.”

He suggested that the Prime Minister “cannot take women seriously” and would struggle if pitted against a female leader of the Opposition.

Mr Cummings also suggested that Labour move its headquarters, saying it should be reopened “in a Tory-held marginal seat in the Midlands.”

He said: “In short, you want the people tasked with winning the election to be thinking daily about the people around them — particularly local businessmen and workers who voted Brexit 2016 and Tory 2019.”

Mr Cumminhs has been highly critical of Mr Johnson and the government since he left his role last year, but insisted that Labour still could gain a majority in the next elections.

He said that while the Prime Minister had “no plan or grip, just crises and media entertainment”, the Labour party’s future was “unclear”.

He explained: “ If they keep Starmer then, although government uselessness may move the polls… there is little chance of convincing enough target voters that Starmer is a serious alternative to bring the scale of shift needed to overcome the 2019 defeat and get a working majority.”

However the former adviser said there was a possibility to obtain a working majority, if the party “face reality and replace Starmer with a Midlands woman who can build a team and focus on target voters with the right strategy, then the polls would shift dramatically.”

Despite numerous scandals involving public contracts being awarded to those with links to the conservative party, Boris Johnson’s luxurious Downing Street flat makeover and some criticism over the handling of the pandemic, the Prime Minister is still currently ahead of his Labour counterpart in the polls.