Labour Leadership and Deputy Leadership Contest Part II

On the 120th Birthday of the Labour Party, a small group of activists gathered in the slightly faded glory of The Hove Club where, beneath old portraits of Her Majesty The Queen and HRH Prince Philip, Hove and Portslade MP Peter Kyle was in conversation with his friend Ian Murray, Scotland's only Labour MP and a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Party.

It was a very interesting, informative and entertaining evening.

When I had embarked on finding out something about the candidates for Labour Party Leader and Deputy Leader, I had not expected it to be quite so much fun.

But it has surprised me. Ian Murray was as straight as a die in his views but also witty and amusing, while Peter Kyle, with his gentle humour, proved an excellent interviewer and complemented him perfectly.

They had become fast friends during the time when Peter had been the only Labour MP in the South of England, excluding London, and Ian was the only Labour MP in Scotland, as he is once again. Between them, they epitomised how good, campaigning, sensible Labour MPs can buck the trend and be a speck of red in a sea of blue or yellow.

As I wrote last month in my blog Why I Am Backing Keir Starmer for Labour Leader, I have made up my mind on the candidate to support for the Leadership. But I was less sure about the Deputy Leader - a mysterious role.

I was impressed by the way in which Ian Murray spoke about the urgency to get Labour back into a shape in which we can win a General Election again, which means winning back Scotland. A council estate boy, brought up by his mum after his dad died suddenly aged just 39, he has already pulled himself up by his bootstraps and has a no-nonsense approach to the problems that have beset the Party during the Corbyn years.

With Ian as Deputy Labour, there would be zero tolerance of anti-Semitism. And when I asked him about dealing with a "party within a party" [Momentum], he simply said it would have to stop.

One of his funniest stories was about bumping into the Labour Party Chairperson in the tunnel between buildings at Westminster and baiting him about the failure of General Election leaflets to arrive, only to be angrily told that he [Ian Murray] had only won his seat because "you get Tories and Liberal Democrats to vote for you!"

Fuelled by the free wine, the Labour faithful at the Hove Club clearly enjoyed the evening, literally getting behind Ian Murray in the selfie above.

The following day, the whole Labour Leadership and Deputy Leadership circus was in town. Initially, I'd heard that the hustings were not venturing south of London, so the surprise chance to see all the candidates speak just a few hundred yards from my apartment proved irresistible.

I had expected a lot of argy bargy between the factions of the party but, once again, I was wrong. Arriving at Brighton's Grand Hotel, I bumped into an old mate from my years on Brighton Trades' Council who was outside handing out leaflets for Leadership Contender Rebecca Long-Bailey - the "unity candidate", or so he said.

Inside, I registered, filed a couple of questions and found a seat in the front row next to a chatty former punk rocker called Peter. It appeared that people had come from far and wide for the hustings and, although it was blowing a gale outside, they were determined to enjoy their day out at the seaside.

I espied "Becky" Long-Bailey by the windows and walked over to say hi.

"Hello, My Lovey!" she responded with a grin. You certainly couldn't fault her on her friendliness. Her supporters clearly adored her.

When the hustings started in the packed banqueting suite, I was struck by how much respect the three remaining candidates - Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey - appear to have for each other, and how the 500-strong audience applauded almost every answer.

Keir Starmer said: "Divided parties don't win elections. I think and I hope that the way the three of us have modelled the election bodes well for the future."

There is not space here to report 90 minutes of debate, but I will say I found myself agreeing with most of the things that Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy said. 

I am still backing Keir but I like Lisa. It was great the way she applauded points made by her rivals that she agreed with.

And she is clearly very clever and gutsy. Even if she doesn't win this contest, there must surely be a big job for her in a future Labour Government.

Rebecca Long-Bailey came over much better in the flesh than she does on TV. She is affable and almost charismatic but I had my doubts over some of the things she said, such as abolishing the House of Lords - it's been pretty useful at times over the years - and statements such as: "If we just want to win, we might as well join the Conservative Party!"

But it was a good-natured hustings - and an example of party unity in action.

At lunchtime, I chatted to another former Trades' Council comrade, a member of the Socialist Workers Party, who was demonstrating outside in support of Rebecca Long-Bailey.

In the afternoon, Deputy Leadership hustings were held. I had nipped home for a pizza and was slightly late.

I have to confess that once I'd found the one spare seat in the front row, I surveyed the five candidates and realised I didn't recognise them all.

Who was the incredibly passionate and confident woman in the yellow dress?

I racked my brain and realised, to my shame, I hadn't a clue.

As the debate continued, I could see it had a different tenor from the morning's session. Becky, Keir and Lisa had been the grown-ups. Together, this lot were more like slightly delinquent teenagers!

The Lady in Yellow turned out to be called Rosena Allin-Khan, a hospital doctor. She impressed me with her flamboyant performance - there was a bit of showbiz about her. At one point, she even belted out a verse of a pop song in a fine X-Factor voice. I liked Rosena, although I am not sure she is experienced enough to be Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Angela Rayner, to whom I recall I gave a vote at the recent Hove Constituency Labour Party gathering on the recommendation of some comrades sitting behind me, put me off a little at the hustings.

Describing herself as a "Ninja Ginger Warrrior", she did a good deal of ranting. When the microphone failed, it didn't really trouble her. I liked quite a lot of what she said but am not convinced she would make a great Deputy Leader.

Ian Murray came over very well again, arguing that Labour should not be "trashing its record" from when it has been in Government.

"If we do not listen to the public," he added, "we will never get back into Government."

Richard Burgon - who has described himself as a Continuity Corbyn candidate - I found a slightly scary, although I certainly concur with his dislike of the Liberal Democrats who "enabled austerity by putting the Tories into power".

Dawn Butler was the most experienced and instantly likeable candidate. She didn't seem to take herself as seriously as the others, banging on about her "Plan for Power" in a strangely self-deprecatory way.

I wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing and, when I asked her about it afterwards, was none the wiser.

Still, I did what she probably least expected anyone at the hustings to do - picked up a copy of her 24-page publication and read it cover to cover.

It is pretty good. Much better than I'd thought it would be when she said in the hustings she'd started writing it after waking up on the day after the Election in bed with a bottle of vodka and no glass!

I like its digital campaigning content and the pledge to "reduce gatekeeping". She, and Labour in general, could do with a bit of a lift in their understanding of the national media, particularly the newspapers, but, with the right leadership in place, I am sure that will come.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my day and evening of Labour leadership and deputy leadership events. Allowing a long period for reflection in the Party after December's devastating defeat is perhaps the smartest move Jeremy Corbyn has made as Labour Leader. I have no issues with the length of the process - it only seems to be doing good. The tide it is a-turning.

So, who am I backing for Labour Deputy Leader? Ian Murray - because I trust him and believe he can win back Scotland for Labour, which is absolutely vital. But also because he has pledged that, if he wins, he will ask for a second Deputy Leader for the female candidate who gets the highest number of votes. My second-preference vote is going to Dawn Butler.

Why I Am Backing Keir Starmer for Labour Leader

The Labour leadership contest is in full swing - and I have made up my mind, supporting Keir Starmer as the candidate most likely to put the party back on track.

There is much campaigning to go before the final decision by the full Labour Party membership is announced in April, and developments so far have been interesting.

Initially, I was struck by some of the extraordinary things that candidates said, particularly coming off the back of a disastrous General Election result in December.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, in an interview with ITV, gave Jeremy Corbyn "10 out of 10" for his leadership - an astonishing assessment considering the Election result, the failure to stamp out anti-Semitism and the incessant in-fighting between Labour factions during his leadership.

Even worse, candidate Clive Lewis, now eliminated from the contest, called for a referendum on the abolition of the Monarchy, after the Harry and Meghan story broke. If you think Brexit is divisive, it would be as nothing compared to a referendum on the Royal Family! One of the craziest ideas I have ever heard!

Jess Philips was a stronger candidate but did herself no favours by suggesting that, under her leadership, the Party might campaign to reverse Brexit at some future point. Although she subsequently rowed back on this position, she struck me as someone who was unlikely to unite the party or get the country behind her. I suspect Jess could make a good minister but would need more experience to go for the top job. She was wise to drop out of the race.

Looking back to the damp and dark of December, it was an honour to do a bit of traipsing around the constituency of Hove and Portslade, canvassing in support of our fine candidate, Peter Kyle, who was re-elected as MP with a large majority.

On the doorstep, I was struck by how moderate and sensible many voters are.

I started to think of the yawning gap, nationally, between Labour activists and the far larger group of potential Labour voters.

Although Peter Kyle and his supporters were doing well in Hove and Portslade, I could see the overall Tory landslide coming like a runaway juggernaut.

The Labour position on Brexit was a hopeless fudge, the massive Manifesto baffled voters and many did not like Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn or Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell - or the stench of anti-Semitism clinging to Labour.

In the torrential rain in Hove, we were doing all right. But watching the national news, the signs were all too apparent that Labour had lost touch with its working-class roots, and that the Corbyn/McDonnell/Momentum experiment would end in abject failure nationally. And so it proved.

Having lost 59 seats,  as well as four consecutive general elections, the scene was set for the most important Labour leadership contest in a generation.

At stake is the very future of the Labour Party. If Labour members and MPs get it wrong once again, there may not be a Labour Party in five years' time.

With this in mind, what has surprised me is that so many people are still talking about the Labour Party as if it is a campaign group, as if winning power and forming the Government is irrelevant, that the battle is within the Labour Party and not with the other parties.

It is vital to remember that we are not just trying to choose a Labour leader but a future Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

This week, I went to see Keir Starmer speak at All Saints Church, Hove, and was hugely impressed by him.

Without notes, Keir spoke fluently, persuasively and credibly for an hour before taking questions, some of them tough ones, from the large audience. He was brilliant - and I agreed with almost everything he said.

He said the electorate had lost trust in Labour as a force for good and that the party needed to unite and stop fighting itself. He pointed out that divided parties don't win elections, and vowed personally to stamp out anti-Semitism within the Party, with the proof being the return of those who have quit Labour because of this disgraceful issue.

Moreover, his remarkable career as a human rights barrister, and clear intelligence and humility make him ideal to lead.

Through and through, Keir Starmer is Prime Ministerial material.

Afterwards, I approached and talked to him about homelessness - and he pledged his whole-hearted commitment to ending homelessness.

Of the other remaining candidates, I have been impressed by Lisa Nandy, who is very bright and an excellent media interviewee. She could lead the Labour Party but I feel this is not her time. However, I would like to see her in a big Cabinet role in a future Labour Government.

Emily Thornberry, I have to admit, troubles me. When the Labour Party was licking its wounds after its General Election defeat, I was shocked that she threatened to sue former colleague Caroline Flint in an unpleasant little dispute.

Moreover, Thornberry does not seem to come over humbly in interviews. Recently, I saw her complaining that people were backing other candidates rather than voting for the best candidate (her!). I just couldn't imagine Emily Thornberry leading Labour to victory in a general election.

Which leaves Rebecca Long-Bailey - the Momentum-backed so-called Continuity Candidate. What puzzles me is why you would want to continue something so disastrous for the party.

From what I have seen of her interviews and speeches, I am not sure if she can win the Labour leadership election. But I am sure that, if she does, she will never be Prime Minister.  Indeed, an Ipsos MORI of ordinary voters placed her last of the four remaining candidates. Just 14 percent the public, in the poll, said she had the makings of a prime minister.

I have heard stories of members of the Socialist Workers Party joining Labour to vote for Momentum candidates - and even Tories joining to vote for Rebecca Long-Bailey, as the most damaging candidate to Labour. None of this is good.

Today (Saturday, 8 February 2020), I attended the ballot by the branches in the Hove and Portslade constituency.

More than 300 party members from Hove and Portslade sat a large hospitality suite at Hove Cricket Ground and heard some excellent, rousing speeches, in support of Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey and party unity (tellingly, I don't think anyone spoke up for Emily Thornberry).

We then voted. As the votes were counted, our MP Peter Kyle told me he is backing Keir Starmer (he'd vigorously supported Jess Philips until she dropped out).

A preferential voting system was used and, when transfers had been made, the final result for the top two was: Keir Starmer, 159; Rebecca Long-Bailey, 83. (Incidentally, before they were eliminated, in the first round Lisa Nandy got 62 votes, not far behind Long-Bailey with 69, and Emily Thornberry polled just four votes.) 

So, Keir Starmer won our backing!

Hooray! I just hope that when the big national members' vote - the one that counts most - takes place, sense again prevails.