Keir currying favour with visit to Stanley
LABOUR leadership front runner Keir Starmer was given a guided tour of the Wham Stadium by Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt and managing director David Burgess.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy have been confirmed as official candidates on the ballot to succeed Jeremy
Corbyn.
Rebecca Long-Bailey and Emily Thornberry are also gathering support.
There have been calls for a northern-based MP as the party looks to regain the support of traditional heartland seats lost at December’s general election, while others argue that Labour’s first ever female leader is long overdue.
Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson is yet to announce who he is backing, although he felt Thornberry was an outsider in the race.
He said: “Whoever is the leader of the Labour Party has to reconnect with the working class, especially the blue collar vote. The proof of the pudding won’t be only who Labour members and myself put a cross against, it will be how the individual is accepted by the public.
“I think the most important thing is to select a candidate who can actually unify and connect with the electorate. It’s not about connecting with one part of the country, that candidate has to connect with everyone.”
The ballot for party leader opens on February 21 and continues throughout the month and March and into April, as it closes on April 2. The result will be announced two days later, on April 4.