New Labour leaders need to say loads more than "I will win elections"

Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Business Insider)

The Labour Party leadership contest has begun. Between now and Saturday 4th April, five MPs are vying to become Leader of the Opposition and five more are pitching to be Labour's Deputy Leader. There are lots to be said by all ten over the coming weeks and as a member myself, there is a bigger part of me that is intrigued than nervous about how it all turns out

The current atmosphere in Labour is bruised yet solemn. Since Labour's last election win in 2005, there has been five Prime Ministers, and the last three having come from the Conservatives. And with the general election in December 2019 being such a crushing one for the party in red, there are a host of challenges that their next leaders need to tackle, once they are voted into their roles.

This particular leadership election is one that Labour need to do right. It made a mistake when they voted for two leaders - in Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson as his deputy - when it turned out they were at loggerheads for a large part of it, or at least Watson was with Corbyn's closest associates. You would very rarely see them sharing a platform and agreeing on the biggest issues, particularly on Labour's approach to Britain leaving the European Union. See, I voted for Liz Kendall for leader and Caroline Flint as deputy in 2015's election, as in my mind, they had similar visions for Labour and would have worked rather well together.

If Corbyn and Watson both showed willingness to work together, there wouldn't have been as many splits in the Party as we saw over the past five years. And as we saw in the general election just a few short weeks ago, the elected MPs spent a lot of time just before Christmas blaming the heavy defeat on everything that moves, and Jeremy Corbyn. So a close partnership between leader and deputy is vital and will be a big factor to who I vote for.

This is my decision - for leader, I have chosen Sir Keir Starmer and for deputy, my first choice is Dr Rosena Allin-Khan. Even saying these words puts me into my little fantasy land. When I first heard they both intended to run their respective campaigns, I was terribly pleased. And I can see them both collaborating effectively.

Rosena Allin-Khan and Sadiq Khan (Image: POLITICO Europe)

Starmer, as Shadow Brexit Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, proved to be the greatest bridge between those who supported the leader and the MPs and party supporters who felt disengaged, much better than Watson. Even with the campaign so young the press don't know how to handle him. They often find it so easy to say if someone is 'too left wing', like fellow leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey, or 'too Blairite'; yet have found it difficult labelling Starmer. That can only be a good thing and hopefully, should he win this election, this press confusion can continue and he is given an opportunity to provide a sense of sensibleness, level-headedness and clarity in the House of Commons. I can also see him beating off claims from Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). Give Johnson an inch, and he'll give you a mile of guff. Give Starmer a chance, and there will be policies that reflect his stature and thus boosting his capabilities of winning bigger elections than the one he faces now.

Put Starmer next to Allin-Khan, then you've hit jackpot. Allin-Khan is a doctor by trade and in her spare time you will see her working at St George's Hospital in Tooting. Having that medical past, she is more than qualified to share her vision for a National Health Service (NHS) that can survive in testing times. I feel her passion and if she can ease the NHS away from its intense pressures, then I'm convinced she can do the same for other cherished corners of society. And as she continues to leap in prominence, there is not much better reward than becoming Deputy Leader.

Of course, both Starmer and Allin-Khan winning could fuel the myth that Labour is too London-centric and that they therefore know nothing about the issues facing communities outside of the M25. Both MPs hold constituencies in the capital. However, it is somewhat dangerous to say anyone should pick a leader based on where they represent. Those who are running for such prestigious titles are perfectly aware of the need to unite the entire country, otherwise why would they be running in the first place? Besides, Boris Johnson was Mayor of London for eight years and the current MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, in, yes, London.

So why wouldn't I vote for the other candidates? The leadership race actually has a host of impressive names and I wouldn't complain if either Jess Phillips or Emily Thornberry emerged victorious either. I enjoy their authenticity, enthusiasm and passion. My concern with both is around how they manage these three great traits. Sometimes, they can be misconstrued at the time when it matters most, i.e. during election campaigns or during PMQs. Thornberry has experience sitting in for Corbyn during PMQs and has performed well. But it could be a long time between now and the next general election. Would their popularity keep up for that period? If either win, I hope, in their case, the answer is 'yes'. Regardless of the result, I hope they both stick around.

Lisa Nandy with Jeremy Corbyn (Image: The Telegraph)

This leads me to the final two candidates. If you are into your 'wings' (remember, I relate to chicken wings more than political wings), you probably couldn't get any polar opposite candidates than Lisa Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey. Nandy has spent a lot of time battling against Labour front-bench ministers in recent years, especially around the issue of anti-Semitism. Largely, she has been right about Labour's laboured approach to it, but I cannot see her pitch beyond the implying of 'I'm definitely not Corbyn, totally the opposite in fact' - which is the same with Long-Bailey implying 'I'm exactly the same as Corbyn and he was the best ever'. These won't help their chances of winning beyond this election. A big shift away from Corbyn's ideas, this early on, will expose the myth that by voting opposite to Corbyn, it will guarantee a general election victory. Considering Labour's current membership landscape, if they are looking to move away from Corbyn-style politics, it will need to be gradual.

The same rule applies to a candidate who promises more of the same as Corbyn as, while good policies were offered, they will never be enough to convince the constituencies, that switched from Labour to Tory for the first time, to move back to red. The key difference here is that Long-Bailey's campaign team haven't hidden the fact they want her to lead alongside Angela Rayner as deputy. But if Rayner doesn't win and Long-Bailey does, the latter has a challenge to change her tone without upsetting her ardent allies.

I'm not too worried about Rayner being Deputy Leader. If my dream of an Allin-Khan win doesn't materialise, losing to Rayner wouldn't be an entirely bad move. With her incredible life story, in that she was a child carer, left school before meaning to, being a young mother and grandmother, and a respected campaigner across the political spectrum, along with the right leader, she has the capability of uniting the party.

A united Labour is critical and my hope is that the eventual winners prioritises this along with overcoming obstacles such as anti-Semitism. In doing so, they must handle criticism with a proactive, not defensive, approach. These are starting blocks to an election victory. That is how the Tories won in December. They ruthlessly ditched those who didn't match Boris Johnson's vision and now have a crop of politicians who sing the same hymn sheet as his, for now at least. These candidates, who have tonnes of potential, need to do a lot more than say "Vote for me because I can win an election". There is no good making promises today that they may not be able to keep in years to come.