O’Grady tells Labour: get behind the winner and focus on what voters want

Frances O’Grady has joined calls from unions and senior MPs for Labour to improve its performance as an Opposition as soon as the leadership election has been completed.

The TUC general secretary said Labour “needs to start focusing on what voters want” at a time when Jeremy Corbyn appears nearly certain to triumph when the result is declared at party conference on September 24.

O’Grady, who is in Brighton for the TUC’s annual congress, was the latest figure from the labour movement – ranging from Corbyn and rival Owen Smith to Unite boss Len McCluskey – to express frustration over the failure to better hold to account Theresa Mays’s government.

“As soon as the contest is over, we are saying get behind whoever the leader is, get united. But start focusing on people out in the country,” O’Grady told the Today Programme on BBC Radio Four.

“Voters want to get a bit more attention, it can’t just be about the rights of MPs, or the rights of members, I think Labour needs to start focusing on what voters want.”

TUC annual congress runs from Sunday 11 to Wednesday 14 September in Brighton. To see the rest of our coverage go to LabourList’s trade unions page.