Keir Starmer has hit back at Johnny Mercer after he compared Labour’s new MP to one of the Inbetweeners.
The Labour leader branded the Tory MP a “silly sod” and predicted he would “soon be history”.
Mercer, the minister for veterans, hit out at 25-year-old Keir Mather after he overturned a 20,000 Tory majority to become the new MP for Selby and Ainsty.
He told Sky News: “I think it’s always good to get new people in politics. I think we mustn’t become a repeat of the Inbetweeners. You’ve got to have people who have actually done stuff.
“This guy has been at Oxford University more than he’s been in a job. You put a chip in him there and he just repeats Labour lines.”
But in remarks caught on camera by ITV, Starmer condemned Mercer’s comments.
During a visit to Selby and Ainsty, he told Labour’s new MP: “There was some silly sod on the radio, on the television, last night saying ‘he’s only 25’.”
Mather responds: “Johnny Mercer.”
Starmer then told him: “The answer is you’re 25 and you made history, and he’s whatever age he is and he’ll soon be history.”
Mercer has been MP for Plymouth Moor View since 2015 and has a majority of 12,897.
However, his seat will be one of Labour’s key targets at the next general election.