Let’s elect a leader who can beat Boris
Ed to lead probe into poll failure Thornberry’s rallying promise I vow to Mirror readers that I’ll put party first
Mr Miliband
FORMER Labour leader Ed Miliband will head a major inquest into the party’s election disaster, despite leading it to defeat in 2015.
Set up by Labour Together, it will interview the 59 MPs who lost seats in the North, Wales and Midlands – deemed to be the party’s ‘red wall’.
Commissioners behind the independent review said it was “wrong” to just blame the leadership.
Former Shadow Education Secretary Lucy Powell, who is among those leading the review, vowed to take a “real and meaningful look” at why the party “fell short” at four elections in a row.
EMILY Thornberry has vowed she would sacrifice her leadership dream if polls showed she was unable to boot out Boris Johnson.
In a swipe at Jeremy Corbyn, the Shadow Foreign Secretary said she would readily quit the top job if she lost the confidence of Labour MPs or voters.
Ms Thornberry, who was the first to officially stand, challenged her rivals to make the same promise.
Writing for the Mirror, she vows: “If there is any stage where the polls and my colleagues tell me I can’t get us back into power… I will stand down.”
Accusing previous leaders of lacking a “clear vision”, the MP for Islington South and Finsbury insists she knows where she wants to take Britain and has “the ability to unite our party and the country behind that”.
But some party insiders fear handing the reins to a second North London MP will not help it to reconnect with traditional Labour voters.
In 2014, Ms Thornberry was criticised for “snobbery” after tweeting a photo of a house in Rochester flying St George’s flags and with a white van outside.
Backbencher Clive Lewis is so far the only other MP to officially declare himself a candidate.
Corbyn and PM
THERE are many qualities we need in the next Labour leader, but there’s one we need above all.
We need someone with a clear sense of priorities and credible policies that will make a difference to the communities we serve.
We need someone with the ability to unite our party and the country.
We need someone with the principles and values to determine their position on every issue.
We need someone who can blow past Boris Johnson’s bluster.
And we need someone with the conviction to speak their mind.
But what matters most is that we need someone who can win.
It’s not the taking part that counts. We urgently need to win back the trust of the public.
So I believe any candidate for the leadership needs to make the solemn promise that I make to Mirror readers today.
I will always put our party first.
If I am elected leader, and if there is any stage where I know that I can’t persuade people, and I can’t get us back into power, I will stand down and give one of my brilliant colleagues the chance to win.