Jack Straw: ‘If I’d wanted to be Labour leader enough I would have stood for it’

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/26/jack-straw-wanted-labour-leader-enough

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Straw, 68, was Labour MP for Blackburn from 1979, home secretary (1997-2001) and foreign secretary (2001-6). He was suspended from the party in February after being filmed in meetings discussing consultancy work

Why are you standing down now?I’ll be 69 in a couple of months and I wasn’t certain that I had the energy to meet my constituents’ needs throughout the five years. I had a pretty big operation 20 months ago for the removal of a thyroglossal duct cyst, which got me thinking. Although I’ve made a complete recovery, it concentrated my mind and it coincided with my mother’s death. I don’t know how I’ll feel on 7 May, except I will feel some sense of loss, because I love the place.

You’ve vigorously defended your actions in Channel 4’s ‘cash for access’ sting. Does it sadden you that it could overshadow 36 years as an MP?The discussions I held were all about what I might do after I had finished as an MP. There is nothing whatsoever improper in discussing one’s retirement plans. I was not anticipating, nor would I have wished, that my last few weeks in the Commons should in part have been taken up with dealing with a sting. But I’ve been hugely moved by the many messages from my constituents, from members of the public and from colleagues on all sides of the house, showing that they certainly do not consider that recent events overshadow my 36 years in parliament.

Do you wish you’d been Labour leader?Not really. If I’d wanted to be Labour leader enough then I would have stood for it. Whether I would have got elected is another matter. Tony used to talk to me about standing from time to time… The irony is that if someone had said, “Mr Straw, by some strange process a decision has been made that you are the next leader, will you sign here?” I would have signed there and I would have done the job, I think, reasonably satisfactorily. But the people who become leaders are people who really, really want to be. I ain’t complaining.

Personal fitness was always very important to you – why is that?Yes, I’m a regular in the House of Commons gym. I was absolutely determined to keep it up all the way through being a minister. It was one of the keys to my physical but also mental survival. You can really work things out if you’re on the spinning bike, or in a body blast class, or upside down in a yoga class, wondering how you got there.

Has the scrutiny of yourself and your family been draining?You get used to it, but sometimes it can be tough and sometimes it can be very personal. Most of the stuff people try to raise about my family you could knock on the head, but sometimes you couldn’t, and when members of your family get embroiled in stuff just because they are related to you, it’s very unpleasant. But tant pis.

Your son, Will, is now standing as a Labour MP for Rossendale and Darwen, a very tight, ‘bellwether’ seat. Do you think he’ll win? What about the Labour party?I am the most pessimistic campaigner, but I think Will has got a very good chance. To use a sailing analogy, it partly depends on the wind and it partly depends on his own helmsmanship. But he’s working very hard. Do I think we can win? Yes, I do actually. Despite all that has been piled on the party in general and the leader, Ed Miliband, in particular, our arguments are getting through. So inshallah, as they say.