A LABOUR grandee has called on the party’s MPs to defy Rebecca Long-Bailey if she succeeds Jeremy Corbyn as leader.
A debate is taking place in the party about what political direction to go in following its disastrous General Election result which saw it lose 59 MPs, including six in Scotland.
Long-Bailey is seen as the left-wing frontrunner in the race to succeed Corbyn, and yesterday it emerged that Jon Lansman, the chairman of the pro-Corbyn Momentum campaign group, is already informally advising her and is likely to join her campaign.
But figures from the centre of the party believe it needs to ditch its connections to Corbyn and the socialist agenda he pursued.
In an article for The Observer, Lord Hattersley warned that Labour is “already preparing for its next defeat” if the party is serious about choosing Long-Bailey.
He wrote: “Despite the obvious truth that Jeremy Corbyn must take the blame for the worst result in almost 100 years, Rebecca Long Bailey, his anointed successor, is the favourite to succeed him as party leader.
“Her election, which is close to being certain, would be the public statement that Corbyn has gone but Corbynism lives on.”
Arguing that Labour’s electoral survival depends on “genuine democratic socialists in the parliamentary party seizing control of the political agenda”, Lord Hattersley goes on to urge MPs to show that “they mean business” by defying Long-Bailey.
“The cause would be best served by an outright refusal to accept the imposition of a leader who does not command their confidence,”
he said.
“A formal protest with a recorded vote would be almost as effective. Emboldened, they must then insist that the shadow cabinet is, once again, elected – giving its members an independent authority that they would not possess as the leader’s nominees.”
Such a move would, the Labour veteran argues, allow the parliamentary Labour Party to “challenge the strategy and tactics of both the leader and the advisers” who brought the party to its worst election result since 1935.
Urging the party’s “genuine democratic socialist MPs” to organise to counter Momentum, Lord Hattersley added: “It may be that the parliamentary party is not in a mood to heed the calls to arms.
“The self-styled ‘moderates’ have always suffered from an excess of caution. But if there is to be a fight, have no doubt that the real democratic socialists will occupy the high ground.”
He continued: “A genuine democratic socialist party can win elections. The time has come to rise up against all who stand in our way.”
READ MORE: Ian Murray lines up bid to become Labour Party deputy leader
The intervention from Lord Hattersley came as The Sunday Times revealed the party’s list of target seats for the General Election.
The leaked document shows that of 86 target seats, 60 were offensive – meaning Labour was attempting to snatch them from rival parties – with just 26 defensive target seats earmarked. Labour ended election night shedding 60 seats and making just a single gain in London’s Putney.
Meanwhile, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of being Labour leader were boosted because of a surge in new party applicants since the election, according to reports.
It emerged that 30,000 people who have signed up to join the party in the past week are mostly from the political middle ground and back remaining in the European Union.
Only Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has so far formally joined the leadership race. But Yvette Cooper, chair of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, is deciding over Christmas whether to have a second tilt at the top job.
Long-Bailey can expect the backing of Corbyn ’s supporters among 465,000 members. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is considering joining her on an all-woman dream ticket as deputy.
There is broad agreement Labour should return to its well-received 2017 manifesto plus this year’s Green Industrial Revolution programme. David Lammy is also considering a run for the leadership as he vowed to challenge Boris Johnson with “civic nationalism”. He is to decide over Christmas whether to run to be the party’s first BAME leader.
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