Diane Abbott to run for Labour leadership
Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington
Speaking about the Labour leadership race on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Diane Abbott MP said, “I’m going to run. So many people have asked me in the last 48 hours have asked me to put my hat into the ring, and I have finally agreed to do so.
I think we need the broadest possible debate. I think we can’t go forward with the leadership debate where there are no women, and I think we need to speak to our supporters and speak to our members in a way we’re not speaking to them up until now.”
Diane Abbott later said, “I am not just another man in a suit. There’s not a lot of difference between the candidates so far. I am standing because I represent ‘real choice’, not a return to the Blair/Brown politics of the past 13 years.
“I voted against the Iraq war which is the single biggest source of disillusionment with Labour. And I do not believe that we lost the election because of immigration, as some of my rivals seem to be suggesting.
“I am a truly independent candidate who will create real change out of the ashes of New Labour, and reclaim the true identity of the Labour Party. I want to provide a platform for debate about who should be the next leader, and that debate would not be complete without a candidate, like myself, who represents a more diverse choice.”
Ms Abbott is the sixth MP to step forward for the leadership post after David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, John McDonnell and Andy Burnham.
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington increased her majority earlier this month to 14,408 votes, a majority of 31 per cent. She partially recouped the support she lost in 2005, when her vote went down from 61 per cent to 49 per cent.