Tom Watson backs Douglas Alexander for election co-ordinator role

Speaking to his local paper today, Tom Watson backed Douglas Alexander to be Labour’s next General Election co-ordinator. Alexander is known to covet the role he held in 2010, but it is somewhat surprising to see Watson – not known to be close to Alexander – throwing his support behind the Shadow Foreign Secretary. Watson said:

“Douglas is our most experienced front line strategist. He has worked for both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and is the natural choice to take forward Labour’s positive message to rebuild our country after the 2015 election.

“It’s obviously not my choice who Ed chooses replace me but if it was Douglas, he would have my full support.

“There are millions of people wanting Labour to win the next general election. A unified labour party is an essential component of our plan.

“I want party members on the ground to be in no doubt that in Westminster, we are completely unified in our desire to win for them in the Euro elections in 2014 and the general election in 2015.

“Douglas, with his characteristic humility and razor sharp mind can refocus the campaign on the issues that matter to people facing a huge fall in living standards”