Women to the fore in fight for deputy’s job
THE race to replace Tom Watson as deputy Labour leader – and perhaps ultimately to succeed Jeremy Corbyn – began yesterday.
With clamour inside the party growing for its first female prime minister, attention has focused on replacing Mr Watson with a woman.
Business spokesman Rebecca Long-Bailey is expected to put herself forward for the position, which is a proxy battle for the party’s leadership.
Laura Pidcock, the employment rights spokesman and close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, is also expected to stand.
Yesterday, women and equalities spokesman Dawn Butler suggested she would also throw her hat in the ring. Jess Phillips, a critic of Mr Corbyn, is also likely to stand and has already said she would go for the Labour leadership.
Mr Watson quit as deputy to Mr Corbyn on Wednesday, and confirmed he would not be contesting his West Bromwich East constituency.
Conor McGinn, a Labour moderate, told New Statesman magazine he was considering standing. Mr McGinn, the son of a Sinn Fein councillor, has publicly fallen out with Mr Corbyn.
Under new rules agreed by the Labour conference in 2018, candidates for the leadership and deputy leadership require the support of 10 per cent of MPs and either 5 per cent of constituency parties or trade unions and other affiliated organisations to make the ballot.
Miss Long-Bailey, an ally of John McDonnell, will face competition from Miss Pidcock, who is seen as the natural heir to Mr Corbyn and once said she would never be friends with a Tory.
Miss Long-Bailey said yesterday: ‘We need to make sure that we are a broad coalition of the centre-Left.’
Miss Butler said that as deputy leader she would ‘change the way the country is developing, change the way we’re seeing hate overcome hope’.