Tony Blair: All leadership hopefuls would be ‘significant improvement’ on Corbyn
Former UK Prime Minister said party needs a 'head to toe renewal' but refused to be drawn on which candidate he is backing
Any of the three remaining Labour leadership hopefuls would be a “significant improvement” on Jeremy Corbyn, according to former prime minister Tony Blair.
But he has vowed to keep his own preferred candidate close to his chest out of fear of doing them “damage”, he told a central London audience on Thursday.
In his strongest intervention yet in the race to succeed Mr Corbyn, the former leader said the party would need a “head to toe renewal” to win power again.
“We can be clear and radical and still in the centre,” argued Mr Blair, who led New Labour for 13 years.
During an event at King’s College London, with his wife Cherie Blair and youngest son Leo watching on, he said the party had “too often been a failure” as a competitor at elections, following its streak of four election losses in a row.
Asked about the leadership contest, Mr Blair said that whoever wins the race out of shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir, Lisa Nandy and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey would be a “significant improvement” on the outgoing Mr Corbyn.
The Islington North MP announced he was stepping down after leading the party to its worst election defeat since 1935 at the December poll.
His tenure was dogged by allegations he failed to properly deal with antisemitism in the party. He was also criticised for associations during his political career. Corbyn insisted he was a life-long anti-racist and rejected claims he had not properly tackled the scourge.
During last week’s Jewish community hustings, the candidates, including Emily Thornberry who has since been eliminated from the race, committed to tackling antisemitism in they get the top job. All but Sir Keir Starmer said they would call themselves a Zionist, though in an interview with Jewish News, the frontrunner clarified that he did support Zionism.
After the hustings, the Jewish Labour Movement announced that its members had nominated Lisa Nandy for leader.
Blair said: “I don’t want to damage anyone by supporting them so I have made up my mind that I am not going to give an opinion on which candidate.
“I think whatever happens there is going to be a significant improvement.”
During his 14-minute speech, Mr Blair said Labour had shifted away from offering voters a plan for government, calling the 2019 manifesto “wrong” for “promising the earth”.
The 66-year-old argued that, with technological developments happening at pace, “everything must change” for Labour if it was to convince voters it could be trusted to wield power.
“Labour’s aim is not to trend on Twitter or to have celebrities – temporarily, by the way – fawn over it,” he said.
“Our task is to win power. To get our hands stuck into the muddy wrangle of governing, where out of it can be pulled the prize of progress.”
He argued that holding on to left-wing principles without power rendered them “pretty meaningless”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
