Labour has consistently been “too frightened” to talk about immigration and must show leadership on the issue, a party grandee has warned, as she said the party ignores underlying anger among some voters “at our peril”.

Keir Starmer is also facing calls to draw up a new strategy to boost support for multiculturalism following the outbreak of violent scenes over more than a week. It comes with party figures inside and outside government considering how to address some of the wider issues they believe contributed not only to the unrest but also to the low election turnout and strong showing for Reform UK.

Dame Margaret Hodge, the former Labour MP who took on the far right in her Barking constituency after a strong BNP performance in 2006, said the government had acted promptly and well to the violence. She called on the party to show leadership by talking to voters about the reality of immigration, making a positive case for it and being willing to be tough about securing borders.

“We are all at fault that we’ve always been too frightened to talk about immigration,” she said. “If you’re a politician, you have a voice. We need to use that voice to develop a new discourse about immigration – you lead, rather than follow.