Long Bailey gives Corbyn ’10 out of 10′ while insisting she’s ‘no continuity candidate’
Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey has insisted she is “not anybody’s continuity candidate” despite giving Jeremy Corbyn a 10-out-of-10 rating.
Long Bailey, who this morning confirmed she was running to take the top job, told ITV Corbyn was “one of the most honest, kind, principled politicians I’ve ever met”, suggesting Labour should have had a “rebuttal unit, a clear structure in place to rebut the attacks against him”.
She repeated her claim that she was not a “continuity candidate” – something critics warn will weaken the party’s chances of winning back lost support. But when asked how she would rate the incumbent, Long Bailey said: “I’d give him 10 out of 10 because I respect him and I supported him all the way through.”
This morning an article penned by Long Bailey appeared in left-wing publication Tribune, in which the shadow business secretary pledged to “fight the establishment tooth and nail“.
Noting that she didn’t “just agree with the policies, I’ve spent the last four years writing them”, the frontbencher claimed the reason for her party’s loss was “that Labour’s campaign lacked a coherent narrative. But this was a failure of campaign strategy, not of our socialist programme”.
Long Bailey joins five other candidates including shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer, outspoken backbencher Jess Phillips and high profile former minister Lisa Nandy.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell today said he was backing Long Bailey for Labour leader, and shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon for deputy.
Although he stressed he wanted to “keep out” of the contest, he told journalists: “I’m supporting Becky, yeah.
“I thought she was superb on the Today programme. I thought she came across as an extremely warm human being and was on top of her game, she was excellent.
“But all of them have been good. I think we’ve got a really good team of candidates.”
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