Alistair Darling backs Liz Kendall for leader

Alistair Darling has announced that he is backing Liz Kendall to be Labour’s next leader.

Darling was Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2007 and 2010. In an article for the Guardian Darling analyses what he believes Labour need to do to win at the next election; writing that although Labour need to defend their record they must show they have the answers in a fast changing world.

He outlines that this relies on a strong stable economy with investment, “borrowing to provide housing or a decent transport system”, investing in education and getting debt and borrowing down.

He also throws his weight behind tax credits, which he says “support income for many who will not benefit from the minimum wage”.

The former minister, who was also chair of the ‘Better Together’ campaign during the Scottish independence referendum, argues that Labour shouldn’t “collectively go out to lunch, as we did in the 1980s” or to hope that in five years time “voters will have had enough of the Tories and come round to our point of view”. Instead, he says party must rediscover its self confidence, self belief and purpose.

Darling concludes that Liz Kendall is the leadership candidate to help Labour do this, because he believes “she recognises the scale of the challenge we face”. He writes “she is a realist, but also understands that if we are not the party of change we could easily become a party of the past.”