I have been contacted by a number of people over the past week about my nomination for the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Make no mistake, this has been a big decision and it is one I have thought very closely about.
Firstly, that decision has been difficult because the current contest has revealed problems in the present rules for nominating MPs. Requiring the backing of 35 MPs is really too high -and the result is that some candidates (for Leader and Deputy) are unlikely to make it in to the ballot paper. I think it is important that the Party looks at how those rules are amended for the future.
But for now they are as they are. In that context, my responsibility as a Labour MP was to nominate from the list of declared candidates, the person I think is best placed to lead our Party in the period ahead. On that basis, and after a lot of thought, I have nominated Yvette Cooper.
I know this will be disappointing to the many people who want to see Jeremy Corbyn in the Leadership Election. I have a very high regard for Jeremy. He is a friend and we have worked closely together over many years on human rights and on the Israel-Palestine issue. The judgement I have had to make, however has been about which of the available candidates would make the best Leader in the current situation. In my judgement, Yvette is a candidate with not only the experience and ability to lead our Party and take on the Tory Government – also someone who can project a strong vision for the future of the UK.
Many people have raised the concern that Jeremy’s politics needs to be represented within the Election contest – because it represents an important current of opinion in the Party not reflected in other candidates. There are several shades of Labour opinion that are not fully reflected in the candidates who have put themselves forward over the past month.
No one Leader or Deputy can personify the many important political views within the Party. That is why it to is so important not to allow the debate about the future direction of the Party be subsumed into leadership choices. There are huge questions for Labour ahead. Our debate must go beyond a discussion of Leadership – both in scope and in time, so that everyone really has a say.
Of course Leaders’ opinions are important but as an MP I have never been comfortable with “command and control” leadership styles. They may have been effective in the past, but they are wholly inappropriate for a time of widespread disaffection with the political process – which goes beyond the mainstream parties. I am clear that Labour must change if we are to convince the electorate that politics really matters, and that Labour politics will really make a difference to their lives.
Labour needs to embrace a more inclusive style of political action to achieve this. And that is what I will be pressing for in the months ahead.