Lammy to nominate Abbott

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Speaking to Sky News, Diane Abbott said she was confident she would get the nominations to be on the ballot paper for the Labour leadership, though she expressed frustration with David Miliband’s popularity in the PLP.

Now, Liberal Conspiracy are reporting that David Lammy will endorse Abbott’s candidacy, and is encouraging other Labour MPs to nominate her to ensure there is a woman candidate on the ballot.

Lammy said:

“Ever since I was first elected to parliament I have called for a more diverse and representative political class. It would go against all that not to help Diane Abbott get on to the ballot paper now. To have a leadership election without a single woman involved would send a terrible signal. I would say to colleagues that lending someone your nomination is not the same as voting for a candidate in the final ballot. The question at this stage is whether we can have a more diverse field and an open discussion over the next few months. I think we should.”

A sensible enough position, as would be lowering the threshold for nominations for this election to 5%, as Duncan Hall wrote last week.