Labour leadership hots up as Rayner launches deputy bid, as Jess Phillips forced into Brexit u-turn
The Labour leadership contest has intensified today, as the party’s national executive committee meets to thrash out the framework for the coming weeks.
Angela Rayner has launched her bid for deputy leader, replacing Tom Watson who stood down during the election campaign, saying the party must “win or die”.
The shadow education secretary, who at one point appeared to be mulling a shot at the top job, said she would back Rebecca Long Bailey, if she decided to run for leader, which she is expected to do in the coming days. The pair share a flat in London, and Rayner described the shadow business secretary as her friend as she endorsed her today.
Rayner added: “Our collective leadership must go far wider than simply who is elected to these positions. It is why I want us to have an honest, but friendly, conversation with each other. And at the end of it, a united party that starts winning elections for us all.”
Rayner launched her bid as the NEC arrived to discuss the race, with party chairman Ian Lavery refusing to comment on whether he would stand to replace Jeremy Corbyn himself.
Meanwhile fellow leadership contender Jess Phillips was forced to clarify her Brexit position, after she appeared to suggest she would campaign to rejoin the EU.
Yesterday Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, told The Marr Show she continued to back Remain and was “not going to change my mind on that”. She refused to rule out rejoining the EU, saying: “Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. But the reality is if our country is safer, if it is more economically viable to be in the European Union, then I will fight for that regardless of how difficult that argument is to make.”
In an article for the Independent this morning however, Phillips appeared to clarify her comments, saying: “The honest answer is that I don’t know what the future will hold, but we must accept the result, move our country forward and hold Boris Johnson to account.
“I can’t see a campaign to rejoin winning support in the next Labour manifesto.”
She added Labour’s failure to win the election meant “the terms of the debate have changed”.
This morning former deputy Tom Watson warned party members against backing “continuity candidate” Long Bailey, telling Sky News: “The one that I worry about – but I don’t know what she stands for – when I look at Rebecca Long Bailey, she’s really the continuity candidate.
“She stands for Corbynism in its purest sense. And that’s perfectly legitimate but we have lost two elections with that play.”
Long Bailey and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer are seen as the most likely to succeed Corbyn, although moderate Starmer is though to command greater support among Labour MPs.
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