With the beginning of a new year and with the return of parliament next Tuesday, the race for the leadership of the Labour Party and thus leader of the opposition, has started in earnest. Many within and without the party have placed the blame for losing the general election squarely with Jeremy Corbyn and his allies on the left of the parliamentary party, and as a result, many MPs and members have been seeking out a standard bearer from the more moderate wing of the party.
With that in mind, Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley) is set to stand in the race to succeed Corbyn and likely become a leader for those in the party that have been particularly outspoken against the Corbyn leadership.
While having had no front bench position in parliament, Phillips has become an unofficial spokesman for many moderates within the Labour Party on the backbenchers, and in her re-election speech after holding her seat in the general election said that, “The reality is that the Labour Party has got to do a huge amount more than just think that getting rid of one man will just simply make it okay.”
Sources suggest that Phillips already has the required number of MPs to nominate her for the contest. With only shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry (Islington South & Finsbury) and shadow minister for sustainable economics Clive Lewis (Norwich South) having formally announced their candidacy, Phillips will be and many remain one of the few if only candidate unassociated with Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader.
YouGov has released a poll of Labour members with Phillips polling 12 per cent in third place, behind shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer (Holborn & St Pancras) on 36 per cent and shadow secretary of state for business, energy and industrial Rebecca Long-Bailey (Salford & Eccles) on 12 per cent.
While Phillips is not without controversy within the Labour Party, she will be viewed by some members as a necessary break from the last four years. From criticisms of the “British Pakistani-Bangladeshi community” having “issues about women’s roles in family, in society”, to being a member of Labour Friends of Israel, Phillips leadership bid will be nothing but interesting and may well prove pivotal as to what political direction the Labour Party heads to in this new decade.
