A no-nonsense northerner with a shot at the top job
LAUDED AS a “no-nonsense northerner”, Lisa Nandy’s pitch for the Labour leadership will not be laced with the Marxism beloved of Corbynistas. The Brexit-supporting, comprehensive-school educated, mother-of-one from Wigan is worlds away from the Islington ideologues.
“I am not a Marxist, and to be honest it is not top of my to-do list to overthrow capitalism,” she admits.
Saying she was “seriously considering” standing, the Manchesterborn politician said it would be in order to bring the party’s traditional working class voters “home”.
The 40-year-old MP for Wigan is believed to be on the soft-left of the party, but doesn’t want to pin herself down on the political spectrum.
“I start from the perspective that you can learn something from most people,” she said.
Given her background, it is perhaps surprising that she didn’t emerge as an ardent Corbynite. She is the daughter of Dipak Nandy, a prominent Indianborn Marxist academic, and Granada television producer Luise Byers.
However, she was exposed to varied political opinions as a child. Her maternal grandfather was the Liberal politician Lord Byers.
“We span a very wide spectrum in my family,” she said.
Ms Nandy grew up in Manchester, attended a mixed-gender comprehensive school and went on to study politics at Newcastle University.
Her first foray into politics was as a councillor in Hammersmith in 2006, before winning Wigan in the 2010 election. After entering the Commons, Ms Nandy quickly rose through the ranks to serve as shadow children’s minister and charities minister under Ed Miliband. As her political career took off, she gave birth to Otis a few days before the 2015 general election. She said she was “on the campaign trail” until the birth, and then “went back and did some door-knocking” for the final days of the election.
When she returned from maternity leave, she took a post in Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet as shadow energy and climate change secretary but resigned after nine months, blaming his leadership.
One Westminster insider described her as the “acceptable face of the Left”, but another said her position on Brexit was “problematic”.
Ms Nandy originally voted Remain, but went on to support Theresa May’s deal, crediting it as the “only way” to get Brexit done. But, ultimately, she failed to back Mrs May’s plan in the Commons. She blamed a technicality, saying that while she rejected the three “meaningful votes” on the deal, she would have supported the Bill on its second reading.
And, after claiming Boris Johnson’s plan “rips up workers’ rights”, she voted for his Withdrawal Agreement Bill, telling the Commons it should be allowed to “proceed to committee stage” for further scrutiny.
Despite being one of the few Labour voices calling on Parliament to respect the result of the referendum, Ms Nandy has received her fair share of abuse on the issue. On one occasion a group of men shouted “f–––--g traitor” in her face outside Parliament.
She has fans in Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor, and Jon Cruddas, the Dagenham MP. Kay Burley, the Sky News anchor, heralded her as a “no-nonsense northern woman”.
Ms Nandy once claimed she was “quite like” Mr Corbyn, saying they had an instinct to “find consensus and build alliances”. Her allies will hope she proves rather more successful at that.