For immediate release
Former Education Secretary, Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett MP has backed Andy Burnham and David Miliband in the Labour leadership race.
Mr Blunkett will give his first preference to Mr Burnham and transfer to David Miliband for his second preference.
Writing on his website, davidblunkett.org, Mr Blunkett said: “It is time for us to face up to the questions that really matter. Who can lead the fight against the coalition’s cuts agenda from day one? Who can regain power for Labour – not in ten years, not in 18, but as soon as the next election comes?
“Who has got the vision for the country – and the capacity to appeal to the whole nation?”
Mr Blunkett, who nominated Andy Burnham when the contest began several months ago, says: “You would expect me to endorse and to support someone whose background, connections and political perspective mirror my own – not least when he happens to have been my Parliamentary Private Secretary and a Minister in my team when in government. That’s why I’ve placed my first preference with Andy Burnham.
“I believe that being genuinely in touch with the day-to-day concerns and heartfelt hopes of individual men and women across the country is a critical pre-requisite to Labour’s re-election to government and to its future success.
“It is that connection that led Andy to understand the imperative of creating a National Care Service and taking on the challenge of an ageing population.”
Announcing that he will transfer his vote to David Miliband, Mr Blunkett continues: “David would have run a remarkable campaign if the only thing he had done had been to set up his Movement for Change – the training of 1,000 community organisers who gathered at an extraordinary London rally last week.
“I have given my support to Andy and to David for a simple reason: that they have the capacity for real leadership. Leadership involves a vision of the future, rather than simply a reflection on the past. It involves experience on the global stage, as well as the domestic; the capacity to command, as well as earn, respect.”
Mr Blunkett emphasises the importance of Labour being able to appeal not to a narrow section of society, but to the whole country.
“25 years ago, a debate took place in our party about whether Labour could or should rely for its success on the ‘rainbow coalition’ of the disadvantaged, dispossessed and discriminated against.
“That debate was won with the election of Tony Blair, who recognised that the combination of those who are ‘naturally’ Labour – almost by dint of birth – and those who are better-off, but who have come intellectually to a position of support, was not enough to command a majority in the country.
“Labour must always go further and seek to appeal to the aspirant – those from whatever background, who simply want to get on in life; for the next generation to do better than them and to have the opportunities which may have been denied to their parents.
“Understanding this is far more relevant to those we must win back than re-running the debate about the wisdom of invading Iraq, downplaying the importance of tackling anti-social behaviour, or even repudiating the massive expansion of higher education on the back of repayment of fees and maintenance loans.
“The choice of our next leader can’t be simply about repudiating certain policies or individual people from our past. It is about the kind of offer that we will make to the whole country come the next election – one that offers a new role for government and more power in the hands of people and communities. Andy and David understand this. That’s why I’ll be voting for them.”
ENDS
Comments