Truro politicians have been commenting on the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer this morning.

The chairman of Cornwall Council, Cllr Rob Nolan, has described Mr Starmer’s decision to step down as “a shame”.

The LibDem Cornwall and Truro City councillor for Truro Boscawen and Redannick ward added: “I’m not a Labour voter but he was doing a good job. He’s made some mistakes – the Winter Fuel Allowance decision was bad PR, and down here, the inheritance tax did not go down well with farmers - but by and large he’s done some good things: the number of people in temporary hotels has gone down, the number of people coming into the country has gone down.

“In contrast, do any of us really know what Andy Burnham is about? My main concern is that he is very keen on mayors and combined authorities, so we could see Devonwall back on the agenda, and we thought we’d seen the back of that. Cornwall is one of the poorest parts of the country, and there are more important things to be doing than rearranging local government.”

Former Labour councillor and city mayor Stuart Roden, who retired last year, described Mr Burnham as “a strong advocate of devolution to local areas - I think that this gives an opportunity for the Cornish Labour MPs to make a strong case for a Cornwall only devolution package which wasn't on offer with the previous cabinet”.

Mr Roden said Mr Starmer “certainly transformed the Labour party and put us in a very strong position. It would have seemed impossible five years ago to imagine that Cornwall would have four Labour MPs. The party has achieved a lot in a short period and inherited a very difficult situation.

“Unfortunately, he made some serious misjudgements early in the parliament which have overshadowed the positive achievements of the government. There is no doubt that cuts to winter fuel payments, increases to National Insurance and farm inheritance tax were very damaging to the government.”

Recalling a visit by Andy Burnham to Cornwall a few years ago, Mr Roden said: “He made a very positive impression. I then visited Manchester with a study tour from Cornwall a few years ago and everyone we spoke to was positive about the work he has done in Manchester. They were at the forefront of integrating health and social care and the public transport system is brilliant. They also have procurement policies which favour and support local businesses.

“The Cornish Labour MPs, particularly my local MP Jayne Kirkham, have done a great job in bringing additional funding and investment in to Cornwall and I think that an Andy Burnham premiership will be good news for the Cornish Labour MPs to continue their good work.”

Their views followed those of Jayne Kirkham, Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, who said: “The Keir Starmer I know is a decent and honourable person who cares deeply about this country and the people in it. In the first four of his six years running the Labour Party, he stabilised and turned around our party, made it fit to govern and won an election. In the last two years, he has stabilised and turned around the direction of the country.

“He had a long list of achievements as Prime Minister in his resignation speech – from rebuilding the NHS, restoring our international reputation with authority and dignity, trade deals, making progress with immigration and significantly cutting the numbers of hotels and small boats for the first time after years of Tory chaos. Lifting half a million children out of poverty, free childcare, employment and renters’ rights. Nationalising rail and steel. Progress to fix water. The benefits will be felt by ordinary people for years after he has gone.

“He’s staying in post until a new leader can be chosen and I understand from his speech that will be by the end of the summer. For my part, I will now be making sure that any potential new leader understands what Truro and Falmouth, and Cornwall more widely, needs from our Government. The people in this constituency will always be my absolute priority.”