Sir Keir Starmer stands for “respect and hard work”, one of his most senior ministers has said after the Prime Minister was likened to “an HR manager”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the Plan for Change – a set of milestones which the Prime Minister fronted – as “clear”, when asked about Sir Keir’s alleged lack of leadership.

The Sunday Times reported that Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney had described his principal as “like an HR manager, not a leader”, a claim made in the new book Get In by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund.

Responding to the claim, Ms Cooper told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I think what you see with Keir Starmer is a real determination to change the country.

“It’s why he set out the Plan for Change with clear action, clear things that he’s determined to change across the country.”

The Plan for Change is a set of six objectives, including a target to build 1.5 million homes in England, achieve at least 95% clean power by 2030, and meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for planned procedures.

Ms Cooper added: “Do you know what I think he stands for most?

“It is actually about respect and hard work, and making the country work for working people.”

According to The Sunday Times, Mr McSweeney voiced fears in private that the Prime Minister “might be too timid”, but had also described Sir Keir as “very bright” and “not completely unpolitical”.

By Will Durrant and David Lynch, PA Political Staff