Angela Eagle launches deputy leadership campaign

Angela Eagle today becomes the latest candidate to enter the race for Labour’s deputy leadership. She joins Tom Watson, Ben Bradshaw, Caroline Flint and Stella Creasy in the contest to succeed Harriet Harman.

Eagle today launched a video to declare her intentions, saying:

“The Party I love has just suffered a heart-breaking election defeat. It was all the more painful because the scale of it had not been anticipated. We endured a total political and strategic failure.

“We need to be brutally honest about what went wrong and that is why during this campaign I will travel the length and breadth of Britain to hear the views of Labour Party members and also the people who did not support us in the election to find out what we need to do two win them back.

“I will also ensure we have a no holds barred debate about the way forward for our Party both politically and organisationally.”

Eagle has been MP for Wallasey since 1992, and has a majority of almost 17,000. She served as a junior minister under Gordon Brown, and has been Shadow Leader of the House since 2011. You can see her campaign video here: