‘Labour needs a Deputy Leader ready to govern, not to undermine’

Last week, I started a new job as Political Director of Labour First, nervous and excited for a first week of making new connections and finding my feet. What I didn’t expect was that by day five, I would be looking at a Deputy Leadership Election.

I was deeply saddened to see Angela leave. She was an essential part of the team alongside Keir in returning Labour from the brink of political oblivion to a landslide majority, and we must now focus on finding a Deputy Leader who can continue that work.

Before this role, I was a party organiser for many years. I saw firsthand the damage a Corbyn-led party was doing to Labour. From Blackpool to Barnet, the country was angry at the party we had become. Thankfully, Keir changed our party to one where we put the country first, and this deputy leadership election should do the same.

Any candidate who puts themselves forward should have ‘country before party’ at the forefront of their minds. The role isn’t to ‘counterbalance’ the leader, it’s to be their right hand that drives through the change we need at the height of government.

Angela came from a different political background but she understood this, and the next deputy should too. The risk we face in this election is a deputy that seeks to undermine Keir, or to drag the party and government away from the centre ground and the priorities of ordinary voters.

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Unlike other internal leadership elections I have voted in, this election takes place whilst we are in government. The country is broken after years of Conservative rule, and the public would rather we got on with fixing it, not spend months infighting and distracting from getting on with the job.

As well as this, the longer we drag it out, the more unstable the government, and consequently the more unstable the financial markets as a time of global turmoil. We should not deviate from the crucial role in fixing public services with limited resources by spending more time debating.

That is why it is essential that we do this quickly. The timetable set out by the NEC today allows for a fair process that involves MPs, members, and affiliates – but also ensures we have someone in place ready to serve our country as soon as possible.

We don’t have a moment to spare.

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