Labour Party leadership contenders: From Chuka Umunna to Andy Burnham - who will take the reins?
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Version 0 of 1. Tristram Hunt is poised to throw his hat into the ring in the contest to succeed Ed Miliband as Labour leader and rebuild the party after last week’s bitter election defeat, The Independent on Sunday has learnt. The shadow Education Secretary, who some MPs thought would lend his weight to another contender, will be joined by Yvette Cooper, who had been long-tipped to run and is planning to announce her candidacy in the next 48 hours. The IoS understands that Chuka Umunna, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall will also stand in what is expected to be the most open contest in the party for decades. Friends of Mr Hunt said he was the candidate to reach out beyond Labour’s base and appeal to voters who had backed the Conservatives in English seats in the Midlands and the south of England – the same constituencies scooped by Tony Blair in three general elections. They point out that, although Labour’s most crushing defeat was at the hands of the SNP in Scotland, Mr Miliband’s party also failed to win supposedly easy Tory marginals such as Nuneaton, Broxtowe and Warwickshire North, while losing Southampton Itchen to the Conservatives. One Labour MP said: “Tory majorities are even bigger. We have squeezed the Lib Dems to death. We have got to have a winner. Tristram is a very strong candidate in my view. He is intellectually self-confident. He can reach out beyond our base. He has been a good colleague and he is actually a nice bloke. But we also need a leader who recognises that we have to have a wider breadth of people at the top or out party, as well. People who have gone to university and people who have not.” One MP said: “Tristram looks the part. We need someone who wants to be prime minister rather than someone who just wants to be leader of the Labour Party – that is not going to help voters in Britain”, in an apparent reference to Mr Burnham who is courting union votes from a left-wing pitch. Mr Hunt, who was educated at private school and Cambridge, would need to counter the perception that, following Mr Miliband, he was another Oxbridge intellectual and would need to draw on the talents of people with working-class backgrounds such as the MP for Ashfield, Gloria de Piero. The MP for Pontefract and Castleford has been “bombarded” by calls from colleagues urging her to stand in the past 24 hours and the friend said she had a lot of support within the Parliamentary Labour party. An ally rejected claims by supporters of candidates from the 2010 intake that she should stand aside and let the new generation dominate the contest. “This is about who MPs believe has the credibility. She is very clear she wants to do things differently. It is very important that we have a serious candidate who is a woman. She is not one of the old boys’ network. She is a mum with three kids. It is about communicating a message about how it affects you when you sit down at the kitchen table.” Another Labour figure said Ms Cooper was a “big beast” and rejected suggestions that the fact she had been an MP since 1997 meant she could not run for election in 2020 – pointing out that Hillary Clinton is running for US president at the age of 67. Ms Cooper and Mr Balls’ eldest child Ellie had her first GCSE exam on Friday, hours after her father lost her seat. The family was spending the weekend away to absorb the fact that one half of the Labour party’s power couple is no longer an MP. Mr Miliband was also spending the weekend with his wife Justine and their two young sons. He held a lunch of bagels for his inner circle at their house in north London. Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee will meet on Tuesday to decide the timetable, with a row emerging among MPs and senior figures over whether to hold a quick race, which will crown a leader by the end of July, or a longer contest with the result announced at the party’s conference in Brighton in September. For the first time, the leader will be decided in a one member, one vote ballot – replacing the electoral college which gave extra weight to the unions. There was speculation that some figures are trying to impose the old electoral college on the party on the basis that the new rules are not properly in place. A senior source said it would be outrageous if this happened, and that the contest had to be fought according to the new rules. Caroline Flint is expected to stand for deputy leader. Ms Kendall, a shadow health minister, is expected to make a strong pitch from the Progress wing of the party. The IoS revealed earlier this year that Ms Kendall was emerging as the chosen successor by long-standing allies of Tony Blair, and she has sent strong reformist messages on the NHS by saying “what matters is what works”. A fellow MP said: “Liz is really interested. A lot of people are excited about Liz, about her strength and the freshness that she would bring. She is steely and fresh and full of ideas and that is getting a lot of people talking and excited. “It is so important that we are about the future and have a credible plan for the future. No longer weighed down by our baggage. There are a lot of reasons why we lost but one of them is that Ed was moulded by his time with Gordon Brown.” Jamie Reed, a shadow minister, has told friends he is considering standing as leader, if only to join the debate about the future of the party. One MP expressed concern that the shorter timetable, with a result by July, was too quick and would not allow a proper debate about the direction of the party. The MP said: “People are exhausted, we need time to properly debate this. This cannot be a stitch and fix.” Liz Kendall, 43, Shadow health minister, MP for Leicester West since 2010. Has been Mr Burnham’s deputy for the past four years but her approach to the NHS is different to his: she caused excitement among Blairites by saying “what matters is what works” in the health service. Dan Jarvis, 42, Shadow justice minister, MP for Barnsley Central since 2011. His background in the Army with medals for service in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, makes him an exciting dark horse for the election. Chuka Umunna, 36, Shadow Business Secretary, MP for Streatham since 2010. His background as a lawyer and mixed race heritage give him an added edge in a world dominated by career politicians and special advisers. Is now regarded as a Blairite, talking about how Labour should be the party of aspiration. Yvette Cooper, 46, Shadow Home Secretary, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. Former Cabinet minister who could cast herself as the Hillary Clinton of the contest – especially now her husband, Ed Balls, is no longer an MP, she can emerge fully out of his shadow. Tristram Hunt, 40, Shadow Education Secretary, MP for Stoke on Trent Central since 2010. Photogenic TV historian could emerge as the surprise frontrunner. Has Blairesque appeal of reaching out to voters in the south, but it’s unclear how he would win Scotland back for Labour. Was prominent on the airwaves on Friday, saying the party needed to change the “lyrics” as much as the “lead singer”. Andy Burnham, 45, Shadow Health Secretary, MP for Leigh since 2001. Started career as Tony Blair’s adviser but, after serving as Health Secretary under Gordon Brown, has travelled leftwards across the party and in his current job has won support from the unions by warning of creeping privatisation of the NHS. |