Former Home Secretary David Blunkett argues that Bridget Phillipson is the best choice for Labour deputy leader as she has clout and the ear of Keir Starmer
Bridget Phillipson has the clout and the ear of Keir Starmer to make the Deputy Leadership a post worth having
It is clear that for the vast majority of Labour Party members, the deputy leadership campaign is not on their minds. That doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. I thought we should have paused to give time to think through what the role of a deputy leader is when Labour is in government and where there is no obligation on the Prime Minister to offer the deputy premiership to those elected.
But that short battle was swept aside in a desire to get on with things, and to not let delay result in unnecessary conflict. I think there must be very few in the Party who were not saddened at Angela’s departure.
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Grossly unfair as it can be, there are times when the politics of a situation make it impossible to stay on, even where history will exonerate you.
So, here we are. The choice is between two very decent women representing northern seats, having been brought up in the north-east and north-west respectively. Both candidates have declared that they are not seeking to rock the boat, or provide a surrogate contest for the future leadership, but rather the role of a loyal deputy.
The question for all of us then in terms of how we cast our vote (and I think there is an obligation on us to do so) is who brings the greatest experience, and who is likely to have the ear of Keir Starmer – even when they may be telling him something he doesn’t want to hear?
The balance for me is on someone with the influence and a voice on the issue that has always been closest to my heart for the whole of my time in public life. Namely, education, education, education.
That is why am advocating for Bridget Philipson. Her commitment to the early years, starting the revival of the original Sure Start programme, her understanding of the necessity of decent childcare and her commitment to standards and improvement for all in our schooling system shines though. It gives me hope that, on the domestic agenda, Keir will see his way to giving substantial public investment in education and skills.
Her work jointly chairing the Child Poverty Review will have not only brought her own background and experience to bear, but also an even greater understanding of the joined-up policies we need to have a holistic and social democratic approach to reducing the poverty of families with children, which is the foundation of reducing child poverty itself.
Bridget has the clout to move the policy into action. Things are not going to be easy in the immediate future. Trying to sort out the mess left to us by the Tories on special educational needs is going to take some clever political navigation, as well as the ear of Rachel Reeves.
Bridget, as Deputy Leader, will have more clout to get the “buy in” needed from all colleagues to find a way forward. Whoever wins this contest will have to sort out with Anna Turley, the new Chair of the Party, what the dividing lines will be in terms of internal party matters; the crucial area of campaigning (no one taking on next May’s campaign role should end up being the fall girl), and the vital bridging role along with Jonathan Reynolds, the Chief Whip, with the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Sometimes a ballot, no matter how boring, can turn out to be important. The deputy leadership of the Labour Party is just such a contest.
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