The Labour Leadership contest.
Today, Trevor McKeever from the South Hornchurch Labour Action Group, shares his view on the Labour leadership contest in the Havering Daily.
In April 2020 we will have a new leader of the Labour party and a deputy too.
This leadership contest will define Labour’s electability for decades to come. Labour should not be appealing to the right or left of the party, let alone the centre which nowadays seems to ebb and flow with the rising of a new moon. Labour should have robust and inspirational policies which allow individuals, families and business the same opportunities to move forward and succeed.
We have an eclectic mix of candidates, all with their own specialities, all with positives that will suit some, but not all Labour party members.
Who will this leader be? At this time I am not sure. Will it be the older and some say wiser shoulders of Keir Starmer, or the new kid on the block Lisa Nandy, I hope all the contenders will be judged on their ability, record, and Policy aims.
Rebecca Long Bailey, seems to carry the backpack of Jeremy Corbyn. Will this be a distraction, detracting from her ability to be a progressive party leader, always being referred to as a Corbynista? Unfortunately, I think the right-wing press will take advantage of this and use it as a stick to beat her and the Labour party with.
Then we have Emily Thornberry, who on the surface looks like your old cuddly nan, but don’t be fooled this lady has a bite. The shadow foreign secretary has a wealth of experience and has shown herself to be competent at the dispatch box, but will this be enough or will she be seen as too old school?
Lisa Nandy, the outsider who is coming up on the rails, Lisa and Keir Starmer were the first to have the required backing to reach the second stage of the leadership contest.
Lisa Nandy is MP for Wigan, she has held many roles in Parliament, being Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell, Shadow Charities Minister and Shadow Energy Secretary. In 2016 Lisa quit the shadow cabinet and then resigned her post as Energy Secretary in 2017.
Lisa launched her leadership campaign in Dagenham. It was clear from the start that she was leadership potential with her choice of words, expressed with respect vision and empathy.
She called for equality & unity across the whole of the UK, saying we should never allow us to be divided pitching young against old, north verses south. Town against city, citizen against migrant.
Being interviewed by Andrew Neil, (you know the man that Boris Johnson ran away from and refused to be interviewed) she said once you have asked people to decide and they make a decision, the job then is for us all to pull together, I think the country has had enough of referendums.
Lisa Nandy has been endorsed by the likes of Stella Creasy, Jon Ashworth. Now that Jess Phillips has withdrawn from the Labour leadership contest, she has also backed Lisa. I believe Jess Phillips will make a good Deputy Leader in so doing will gain valuable experience to become a future Labour party Leader.
As you can see, I have written more about Lisa Nandy than any other candidate for leader, this is because on balance Lisa Nandy’s vision ticks most of my boxes, and hits my expectations of leadership values and qualities, some may disagree but hey, that’s just politics.
