Rebecca Long Bailey vows to carry on Jeremy Corbyn's work as she launches bid to succeed him
4 min read
Rebecca Long Bailey has told Labour members she can be "trusted with our socialist agenda" as she became the sixth MP to enter the party's leadership race.
The Shadow Business Secretary said she would "stay true" to the policy course set by Jeremy Corbyn - but urged Labour to focus on "reuniting all our heartlands" after its bruising election defeat last month.
Her pitch, in an article for Tribune, came as party chairman Ian Lavery confirmed he would not mount his own bid for the top job and instead threw his "full support" behind his Shadow Cabinet colleague..
Ms Long Bailey, who has been MP for Salford and Eccles since 2015 and served as a shadow frontbencher since Mr Corbyn's election as leader that year, said Labour had faced a "devastating" election defeat.
But she called on the party to respond by building "a winning vision of a socialist future".
In a swipe at her rivals, the Shadow Business Secretary said: "Many candidates in the leadership election say they will not return to the triangulation and Tory-lite policies that held our party back before Jeremy.
"But we need a leader that can be trusted with our socialist agenda. A leader who is totally committed to the policies and has the political backbone to defend them.
"We need a proud socialist to lead the Labour Party, driven by their principles and an unwavering determination to see democratic socialism in our lifetime."
She added: "For all of these reasons and more, I have decided to stand for election to become the next leader of our Party. I don’t just agree with the policies, I’ve spent the last four years writing them."
Making a direct pitch to members who twice elected Mr Corbyn leader, Ms Long Bailey said: "Under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn we’ve drawn upon the collective knowledge and experience of that movement to develop a radical, ambitious socialist vision for the future. This is our greatest strength, and we need a leader who comes from and will stay true to that movement. "
The Shadow Business Secretary also argued that Labour's 'Green New Deal' plan to slash carbon emissions and provide jobs in renewable industries had been "tragically undersold" during the general election campaign, arguing that it could have provided a "compelling frame for our entire economic programme".
"The popularity of our Green New Deal bridges the divides in our electoral coalition, with huge support in the cities and marginals in the South East too," she said.
"It should have been a core part of our offer: this is how Labour will help you take back control."
Ms Long-Bailey urged the party to plot a way to "rebuild our electoral coalition and implement our vision" by "reuniting all our heartlands, from the communities that voted to leave in the North and Midlands, to those in Scotland who abandoned Labour in 2015 and our growing young, diverse strongholds in cities".
And she called on Labour to set out plans to "overhaul a broken political system", arguing that the party had too often been seen as "another bunch of politicians making promises we couldn’t keep".
She added: "We’ve also, at times, been too close to the establishment we are meant to be taking on – whether cosying up to Rupert Murdoch, joining forces with David Cameron in the Better Together campaign in 2014 or turning our focus inwards on parliamentary manoeuvring for the last year."
LAVERY: 'FULL SUPPORT'
The left-wing pitch from Ms Long Bailey was unveiled as Ian Lavery, another key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, confirmed that he would not stand for the Labour leadership and instead backed the Shadow Business Secretary.
The Labour Party chairman had been considering his own run at the leadership.
But, in a statement, he said he would not be entering the race, and urged the party to support a leader who can "not only represent our 'heartlands', as well as winning over new supporters, but to listen to the people who must live in them too'".
He added: "With this in mind I will be throwing my full support behind Rebecca Long Bailey as the best person to lead our party.
"Having worked with her in the shadow cabinet I know she has the intellect, drive and determination to take forward and develop the popular, common sense socialist policies that Jeremy Corbyn has championed.
"And after more than a century it's about time the Labour Party was led by a woman."
Ms Long Bailey's campaign has already won the support of Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, who confirmed her backing for her frontbench colleague as she launched her own bid to become deputy leader.
Under a timetable agreed by party bosses on Monday, Labour's new leader will be unveiled on April 4.
The other leadership candidates who have so far thrown their hats into the ring are Emily Thornberry, Clive Lewis, Jess Phillips, Lisa Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer.
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