Burgon sets out details of deputy leader pitch to colleagues

Richard Burgon has written to Labour colleagues explaining why he is standing to be the next deputy leader of the party and outlining his approach to the role.

In the letter sent to other members of the parliamentary Labour party today, the Shadow Justice Secretary stressed the need for all sections of the party to unite.

The Leeds East MP wrote: “Labour has always been a broad coalition of socialists, social democrats and trade unions. For me, that unity is our strength and is more necessary than ever in the aftermath of our devastating election defeat.

“My focus as deputy leader will be to build on that unity as we take the fight to the new Boris Johnson government and try to limit the damage it will do to our communities.”

He expressed his view that Labour should not move away from the policy direction of the last two manifestoes, but did suggest that better messaging and a clearer focus is required.

He wrote: “Many of the policies in our recent manifestos were widely praised and offer genuine solutions to the challenges our communities face. A £10 per hour living wage, building 100,000 council houses per year and a new green industrial strategy can be part of how we rebuild trust with lost voters.”

He added: “We cannot assume that good policies alone are enough. We clearly need to work on making our policies connect better with potential voters. As deputy leader I would ensure that we sharpen our messaging by focusing on ten key popular policies that best articulate our vision to transform Britain.”

Commenting on Labour’s defeat last month, Burgon cited Brexit as the main reason: “My experience on the doorstep, in my strongly Leave constituency, suggests it was largely due to it becoming the ‘Brexit election’ that Boris Johnson wanted.”

He added: “But that was not the only reason. As deputy leader, I would host regional events with current MPs and launch a forum with all our colleagues who lost their seats and candidates in marginal seats who sadly did not win this time, to ensure the widest input into how we move forward.”

The candidate also alluded to a long term trend away from Labour in some seats: “I would also chair a special commission looking into how we rebuild in those 50+ seats lost in Leave areas, in many of which our support has been declining for a number of years.”

He wrote that as deputy leader “one of my key tasks will be to strengthen our local organising and campaigning”, and that “engaging our dedicated membership in these campaigns will be key to reconnecting locally”.

Burgon announced that he would be putting himself in contention to be the next deputy leader of the Labour Party last week.

He has been a close Corbyn ally and was a key media performer during the election. He is likely to be seen as the most Corbynite of the deputy leader candidates.

A number of other Labour figures have unveiled deputy leadership bids, including Rosena Allin-Khan, Ian Murray, and Khalid Mahmood.

Frontrunner Angela Rayner formally put her name forward for the role yesterday, launching her bid with a warning that Labour must “win or die”.

The national executive committee met yesterday to agree the timetable for the leadership and deputy election process. Nominations from MPs and MEPs opened today and close on January 13th.

The parliamentary Labour party will hold a hustings for the deputy leadership contest on Wednesday morning.