Leadership means understanding your part in building a social movement, not believing you are the personification of one. By Richard Burden Originally published by HuffPost, July 24, 2017 Traitors, backstabbers, Red Tories, Blairite plotters … all of us who have called for a change in Labour Leadership have had these kinds of labels thrown at us in recent weeks. Often they come from keyboard …
Three weeks ago it all felt so different. Britain had not yet voted to leave the European Union. The Pound had not plummeted. The Bank of England had not yet had to step in to steady the situation. The Prime Minister had not announced his resignation and the UK’s major political parties had yet not appeared to be in turmoil. None of us have lived through anything quite like this before and nobody …
You have until 23:59 tonight to register to vote so that you can have your say in the EU Referendum. Registering only takes a few minutes and this is the last chance you’ll have. Even if you’re not sure about voting or what your decision is, at least register so that you have the option to vote two weeks from now – you may regret not being able to vote! This is a moment where you control the …
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the Labour leadership election and about the future direction of our Party. It set out the reasons why I believe the qualities that Yvette Cooper would have brought to the position of Leader made her the candidate for me to support. The scale of Jeremy Corbyn’s victory was, however, overwhelming and it must be respected. I don’t say that …
Last month a large gathering of Labour Party Members and Supporters met to review the lessons of the recent elections, and to work out how best we can move forward.
Before we broke into four workshops (see below), I opened the event with some personal reflections on the election and on the future. Read my notes here.
So the deadline has now passed for people to register as Labour supporters to have a vote in the Labour Leadership election. Amid stories of malign infiltration by some Tories and others, Labour is right to check the genuineness of applications before ballot papers are issued. But let’s be clear, the fact that thousands of new people feel motivated to join the debate about the future of Labour is …
I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.