Labour PPCs write open letter criticising “campaign of briefing to destabilise Ed and his leadership”

Over 100 Labour PPCs have signed a letter today calling on “an anonymous few” to stop orchestrating a “campaign of briefing to destabilise Ed and his leadership”. The letter (published in full below) has been signed by candidates from across the political spectrum of the party, and includes many candidates from the party’s key marginal and target seats.

The letter is published before tonight’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party – at which Miliband’s leadership is likely to be discussed. Here’s the text:

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Our country simply cannot afford another five years of an abysmal Conservative-led government. That’s why, as candidates, we’re out on the doorstep week in, week out in the towns, cities and countryside that we seek to represent, making the case for a better future under Labour.

We always knew this election would be difficult, but we also know that just four years after suffering our worst defeat since 1918, Ed Miliband has led our party to within striking distance of government.

At a time when the public are increasingly sceptical about politics and politicians, we’re proud to be led by a man that we know to be honest, sincere and decent. He will be a courageous, radical and reforming Prime Minister.

Ed is the only leader who understands the scale of the challenge that our deeply anxious and unequal country faces, and the only leader who has developed a radical yet credible agenda to meet it. He was the first to identify the dangers our economic malaise posed not just to the poorest but also to vast swathes of middle-income Britain. He was the first to call for a new culture of responsibility, including for those at the top. He was the first to highlight both the moral evil and the economic stupidity of Britain’s endemic levels of low pay and the importance of fair wages and dignity in work. He was the first to take a stand against Rupert Murdoch and his media empire. And he is the only leader that can save our NHS from the privatisation and fragmentation unleashed on it by the Coalition Government.

He has shown time and again, on press regulation, on bankers’ bonuses, on gas and electricity prices, on the minimum wage and on payday lending, that it is the Labour Party that is setting the agenda not the government.

We have watched in disappointment over recent days as an anonymous few have attempted to orchestrate a campaign of briefing to destabilise Ed and his leadership. It is a distraction from the real issues, damaging for our party and it has to stop. Now is the time to stand our ground and to work even harder for the Labour victory that our communities so desperately need. As candidates we will not be distracted from getting out there and doing all we can to work for a Labour government.

Labour Parliamentary Candidates

Matthew Pennycook, Greenwich and Woolwich

Clive Lewis, Norwich South

Melanie Ward, Glenrothes and Central Fife

Tulip Sidiq, Hampstead and Kilburn

Paula Sherriff, Dewsbury

Helen Hayes, Dulwich and West Norwood

Nancy Platts, Brighton Kemptown

Lucy Rigby, Lincoln

Jo Stevens, Cardiff Central

Jessica Asato, Norwich North

Stephen Kinnock, Aberavon

Lisa Forbes, Peterborough

Archie Dryburgh, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale

Polly Billington, Thurrock

Wes Streeting, Ilford North

Jo Cox, Batley and Spen

Will Straw, Rossendale and Darwen 

Purna Sen, Brighton Pavilion

Suzy Stride, Harlow

Joshua Fenton-Glynn, Calder Valley

Sharon Taylor, Stevenage

Natasha Millward, Dudley South

Amina Lone, Morecambe and Lunesdale

Stephen Webb, Wantage

Ruth Smeeth, Stoke-on-Trent North

Jane Berney, Saffron Walden

Charlynne Pullen, Mid Bedfordshire

Barry Black, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

Richard Garvie, Wellingborough

Sarah Sackman, Finchley and Golders Green

Rupa Huq, Ealing Central and Acton

Catherine Atkinson, Erewash

Jed Sullivan, Fylde

Joy Squires, Worcester

Leonie Mathers, Sherwood

Angela Rayner, Ashton Under Lyne 

Kevin McKeever, Northampton South

Fiona Dent, Windsor

Joe Riches, York Outer

Veronica King, Elmet and Rothwell

Deborah Sacks, South Norfolk

Julian Ware-Lane, Southend West

Sam Juthani, Henley

Margaret Greenwood, Wirral West

Katherine Chibah, Hertford and Stortford

Edward Robinson, Broxbourne

Bilal Mahmood, Chingford and Woodford Green

Sam Gould, Romford

George Aylett, South West Wiltshire

Simon Thomson, Dartford

Bally Singh, Kenilworth and Southam

Jack Abbott, Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Sundip Meghani, Harborough

Mary Wimbury, Aberconwy

Alex Sobel, Leeds North West

Peter Kyle, Hove and Portslade

Lucy Mills, South Northamptonshire

Mary Galbraith, Argyll and Bute

Oliver Coppard, Sheffield Hallam

Jane Berney, Saffron Walden

Sam Rushworth, Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Michael Lerry, Bridgwater and West Somerset

Jamie Hanley, Pudsey

Will Cass, Aylesbury

Neil Coyle, Bermondsey and Old Southwark

Naushabah Khan, Rochester and Strood

Joan Ryan, Enfield North

James Wright, Altrincham and Sale West

Nick Bent, Warrington South

Todd Foreman, North East Somerset

Nicholas Palmer, Broxtowe

Clair Hawkins, Dover and Deal

Tony Breslin, Hemel Hempstead

Martin Jevon, Yeovil

Darren Price, Congleton

Abigal Campbell, Daventry

Matt Lamb, Wyre Forest

Rachel Rogers, West Dorset

Shelia Boswell, Putney

Matthew Brown, Louth and Horncastle

Azhar Ali, Pendle

Gareth Thomas, Clwyd West

Liz Savage, Southport

Rachel Burgin, Hitchin and Harpenden

Cat Smith, Lancaster and Fleetwood

Matthew Dorrance, Brecon and Radnorshire

David Williams QC, Wycombe

Daniel Zeichner, Cambridge

Emily Brothers, Sutton and Cheam

Sean Morton, Moray

Harry Clarke, Mid Norfolk

Malcolm Fincken, Braintree

Richard Wilson, Guildford

Sean Kelly-Walsh, Charnwood

Caitlin Bisknell, High Peak

Richard Burgon, Leeds East

Nicola Heaton, Mid Derbyshire

Jane Basham, South Suffolk

Peter Smith, South West Norfolk

Chris York, North East Herts

Neil Guild, Taunton Deane

Tim Macpherson, East Worthing and Shoreham

Duncan Enright, Witney

Chris Worsey, Lichfield

Justin Madders, Ellesmere Port and Neston

Chris Matheson, City of Chester

Liz Evans, Gower

Harry Harpham, Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough

Edward Carlsson Browne, Harwich and North Essex

Jo Rust, North West Norfolk

Katrina Gilman, The Wrekin

Chris Oxlade, Crawley

Denise Burke, North Norfolk

Jeff Kenner, Stratford-on-Avon

Stefano Borella, Bexleyheath and Crayford

Louise Baldock, Stockton South

Daniel Scott, Bedfordshire South West

Sarah Owen, Hastings and Rye

Joe Cooke, Castle Point

Louise Haigh, Sheffield Heeley

Matt Turmaine, Watford

Sarah Jones, Croydon Central

Lee Sherriff, Carlisle

Chris Elmore, Vale of Glamorgan

Gary Puffett, Aldershot

Mari Williams, Cardiff North

Uma Kumaran, Harrow East

David Hough, Rayleigh and Wickford

Melanie Onn, Great Grimsby

Peter Edwards, Maldon

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Lewes

Rowenna Davis, Southampton Itchen

Ollie Middleton, Bath

Jessica Phillips, Birmingham Yardley

Edward Hunt, Haltemprice and Howden

Lee Godfrey, Kingston and Surbiton

Lesley Brennan, Dundee East

Dawn Butler, Brent Central

Chris Vince, Chelmsford

Stephanie Peacock, Halesowen and Rowley Regis

David Ellesmere, Ipswich

Amanda Hack, Sotuh Leicestershire

David Stokes, Bournemouth West

Tom Corbin, Salisbury

Ibby Mehmet, Old Bexley and Sidcup

Tim Young, Clacton

Deborah Hopkins, St Austell and Newquay

Alan Butcher, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton

Mark Latham, Eastleigh

Dr. Amanjit Singh Jhund, East Dunbartonshire

Mike Robb, Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey

Howard Kaye, South West Surrey

Steve Parry-Hearn, Forest of Dean

Emily Darlington, Milton Keynes North

Carolyn Harris, Swansea East

Ruth Cadbury, Brentford and Isleworth

Mark Dempsey, North Swindon

Pete Lowe, Stourbridge

Victoria Bennett, South Ribble

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Salford and Eccles

Tim Roca, Macclesfield PPC

Mike Sparling, Torridge and West Devon

Michael Payne, Newark