Labour leadership candidates take part in first televised hustings

Labour’s leadership hopefuls tonight took part in a debate aired live on primetime terrestrial television. But none of the candidates broke new ground.

Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn and Liz Kendall debated a variety of issues in front of a live studio audience in 2015 Labour target seat Nuneaton. Newsnight’s Laura Kuenssburg chaired the debate.

Questions ranged from how Labour move on from the New Labour years to what each of them plan to do to control the country’s borders and immigration.

All of the candidates were keen to get enough air time to set out their pitch – Andy Burnham was so eager to do this that he ran over the 45 seconds allotted for his opening statement.

Cooper and Burnham were keen to draw on their pasts – Burnham highlighting his working class roots while Cooper emphasised her experience, noting that she had rolled out Sure Start.

Kendall outlined herself as the ‘change’ candidate once again, noting that she was willing to say and do things that might make the party uncomfortable. If successful in her leadership bid, she also committed herself to a trigger ballot if the party think she isn’t performing well enough as leader.

Meanwhile, Corbyn took an anti-austerity line and called for greater democracy in the Labour party. But one audience member didn’t seem to think there was all that much difference between the people on stage.

Unsurprisingly reactions on Twitter were much more split:

Kendall running against her party. May, just may, work with parts of electorate but tougher to sell to the Labour Party #labourdebate

— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) June 17, 2015

.@andyburnhammp: I believe in Britain. I will be a leader whose voice can carry to all the nations and regions of our country #Andy4Leader

— Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) June 17, 2015

Spot on Jeremy Corbyn. Living wage: less spending on in-work benefits. Build housing? Less subsidising private landlords #labourdebate

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) June 17, 2015

I think Yvette far exceeded expectation, Corbyn met expectation, Burnham underperformed and Kendall was more right-wing than I’d feared.

— Calum S (@CalumSPlath) June 17, 2015

“We have to speak to the whole country b/c we want to govern for the whole country.” This is why it has to be @LizforLeader. #lizforleader

— Felicity Slater (@FelicitySlater) June 17, 2015