Mahmood to fight for deputy role in Labour
BIRMINGHAM Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood has revealed he is to stand for the deputy leadership of the Labour party following a disastrous showing at the polls last week.
He said he would ensure the party was not ‘London-centric’ and had a better understanding of the Midlands and the North.
Mr Mahmood, an engineer by trade who worked both in Birmingham and overseas before entering politics, said: “The way to move forward is to focus on the green jobs that can be created from engineering and manufacturing.”
The former deputy leader, ex-West Bromwich MP Tom Watson, has already stood down. Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he will resign, but has not named a date for quitting.
Labour’s National Executive Committee is expected to set the timetable for the elections when it meets early in the new year.
Mr Mahmood, a Birmingham MP since 2001, said: “Since the day of the general election I have had a lot of people saying that I should run for a leadership position, to move away from the metropolitan elite of London and to put the West Midlands and the North back into play.
“We need to look at the issues around engineering and manufacturing. Everything from getting more people into the economy and into well-paying jobs, looking at the environment, looking at the infrastructure of employment outside of London and getting more jobs out of London and into the Midlands and the North.
“I’ve spent most of my life in Birmingham, I’ve been an engineer in Birmingham.
“We should be leading the world in the technologies such as green cars, for example. We also need to look at all of our agriculture, financial structures, pharmaceuticals.”
Mr Mahmood has served as a shadow foreign office minister for Russia and Europe for the past three years.
He is a member of trade union Unite. He has also been a Birmingham councillor and Labour Party official.
He will not be running in partnership with any leadership candidate.
Candidates for the Labour leadership or deputy leadership need the support of 10 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party, or 21 MPs.
Then they need the backing either of 5 per cent of constituency Labour parties or 5 per cent of affiliated organisations such as trade unions.
Equalities Minister Dawn Butler has also said she will stand for the deputy leadership. Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey and Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner are widely reported to be standing on a joint ticket for leader and deputy leader respectively, but have not formally declared their intentions to run.