Liz Kendall announces support for creation of an English Labour Party

There should be a devolved English Labour Party, according to Liz Kendall. The leadership hopeful made the announcement during a speech on devolution and communities in south London this morning. Kendall was flanked by some of her most high-profile supporters, Shadow Cabinet members Emma Reynolds, Gloria De Piero and Chuka Umunna, suggesting that they all back her stance on the issue. Shadow Education Secretary and Kendall supporter Tristram Hunt, who announced his support for an English Labour last week, was also in attendance.

This will likely set the ball rolling on the possible formation of a new, devolved party within UK Labour. Shadow health minister Jamie Reed is a vocal proponent of the idea, and Jon Cruddas, who has previously praised Kendall, let slip that plans are in place for English Labour last month.

Kendall said:

“Our political union remains fragile. It requires a new settlement so that each of our nations has a greater say shaping its own destiny. Devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is accelerating. I believe we must support England’s right to its own voice, too. Devolution goes hand in hand with our sense of identity, belonging and pride.

“As Tristram Hunt argued last week, England has a radical tradition that has opposed conservatism and inequality for centuries, from John Wycliffe to E.P. Thompson. I want this tradition to stretch far into the future. To do this – and to reconnect with England – we need an English Labour Party to stand alongside Scottish and Welsh Labour. As well as devolution to our nations, we must also devolve power within our nations.”

With references to community, family, and even faith, large parts of Kendall’s speech felt grounded in the ideas of Blue Labour – in fact, Blue Labour thinker Maurice Glasman watched from the audience. However, she distanced herself from some of the more socially conservative ideas that brought that strand of thinking criticism, arguing that Industrial Britain had both positives and negatives:

“We shouldn’t be nostalgic. Industrial Britain was a world of rigid hierarchies, gender stereotypes, and often of accepted prejudices too. Yet, many people had a sense of being part of something.”

The Leicester West MP also spoke of reforming party structures so that Labour policy is “made with and by the people who know best – not simply by those in Westminster or Party Conference composite meetings.” This would involve an overhaul of the party’s current policy making structures. Paraphrasing Lincoln, she argued that “Our politics must be of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

However, she also adopted tough language about May’s defeat, saying it left her “angry, frustrated and disappointed”, and compared it to the first election she voted in, in 1992:

“My first years as a Labour member were tough. We’d lost when we expected to win. Some said the party was destined to lose forever. And here we are again. Labour is out of government, with 39 seats fewer than we won in 1992. Once again, many of us feel raw, angry, frustrated and disappointed. Once again, it’s time to stop complaining and start doing something. 

“Because losing doesn’t just hurt parties, or even politicians. Losing hurts people. Because we lost, the journey which young people face through life is tougher than ever. Because we lost, poor and low paid working families are being hit hard. Because we lost, caring for sick or frail loved ones is harder than it has been for a long time.”