What made Chuka chuck it in?
Mystery as favourite quits leadership race after three days, saying he can’t stand scrutiny
LABOUR leadership front-runner Chuka Umunna dramatically quit the party’s leadership race yesterday – with aides saying he wanted the freedom to live his life and start a family away from public scrutiny.
In a shock move, the shadow business secretary – who has been nicknamed t he ‘ British Obama’ – announced he was abandoning his leadership bid just three days after launching it.
He will remain in the shadow cabinet and has not ruled out a future shot at the Labour leadership. He had been the bookmakers’ favourite, and his departure dismayed Blairites.
It leaves shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, who is expected to get the backing of the militant Unite union, as the clear favourite to succeed Ed Miliband.
In a statement that stunned Labour yesterday, Mr Umunna said he was ‘uncomfortable’ with the level of scrutiny he and his family have received since he emerged as a favourite for the l eadership following Labour’s defeat.
‘Since the night of our defeat last week, I have been subject to the added level of pressure that comes with being a leadership candidate,’ he said.
‘I have not found it to be a comfortable experience. One can imagine what running for leader can be like, understand its demands and the attention but nothing compares to actually doing it and the impact on the rest of one’s life.
‘Consequently, after further reflection, I am withdrawing my candidacy.’
Early yesterday, Labour sources were claiming Mr Umunna had been upset by media attempts to contact his mother and his lawyer girlfriend Alice Sullivan, whom he paraded in front of the cameras for the first time last Sunday as he prepared to launch his bid for power.
But by late afternoon they had backtracked, with friends of Mr Umunna saying he was ‘ not blaming media intrusion’.
One said: ‘He was completely sincere in everything he said at his launch. But he’s now had time to reflect on the full intensity involved and think about the personal sacrifices. He’s 36 and he wants to start a family at some point – it is not right for him this time.’
His f riends also dismissed rumours that he feared newspaper revelations about his private life. However, Labour MP Simon Danczuk said that even if politicians did have ‘skeletons in the closet’, they should not be allowed to get in the way of their ambitions. ‘Skeletons shouldn’t deter political ambition,’ he said on Twitter. ‘My skeletons aren’t so much in the closet as strewn all over the bedroom!’
Rival camps cl ai med Mr Umunna was struggling to get the support of 35 Labour MPs needed to make a formal bid for the leadership, although this was dismissed by supporters.
Some Labour MPs feared Mr Umunna, a lawyer, was too slick and metropolitan to appeal to the party’s traditional supporters in the North and Scotland.
Bill Grimsey, former head of the DIY chain Wickes, worked closely with Mr Umunna while serving as a business adviser to Ed Miliband. In a withering assessment, Mr Grimsey told the BBC: ‘The thing I say about Chuka is: is he ambitious enough to be leader? Hell, yes. Is he tough enough, bright enough, smart enough? Hell, no.’
Another fancied candidate, the former soldier Dan Jarvis, has already pulled out of the leadership race, citing his wish to spend more time with his young family.
Their departures will fuel speculation that senior Labour figures believe it will be almost impossible to win in 2020. Electoral expert John Curtice, who produced last week’s shock exit poll that correctly predicted the outcome of the general election, warned that Labour would need a 12-point lead unless it could reverse its losses in Scotland.
Former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw, who is reportedly considering running for the Labour party deputy leadership, said Mr Umunna was a ‘terrible loss’ to the field because he was the candidate the Conservatives ‘feared the most’.
Mr Umunna’s departure is a boost to the hopes of Blairite candidate Liz kendall, the shadow care minister. There were also signs that the development may prompt shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt to enter the race. He is expected to announce a decision today.
‘Completely sincere’