He may only be 36 years old, born October 17, 1978, Labour Streatham MP, Chuka Umunna has confirmed he is ready to be the next Labour leader after the resignation of Ed Miliband . Referred to as ‘Mr Smooth’, the rising Labour star nicknamed the ‘British Obama’ has officially declared his party leadership bid according to reports in Manchester Evening News..
Manchester university alumnus Chuka Umunna will go head-to-head with a string of other hopefuls – expected to include Leigh MP Andy Burnham.
The shadow business secretary, a south London MP only elected for the first time five years ago, will be helped in his campaign by Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds.
Long tipped for the top, he is seen by many as the fresh-faced moderniser needed to rebuild the party – and in his announcement insisted Labour must draw now together the ‘north, south, east and west’ to take back power.That would not take a decade to do, he insisted.
In a Facebook video made in the marginal seat of Swindon, which Labour failed to take last week, he said: “I’m pleased today to be announcing that I will be standing for the leadership of the party. I think we can and we should be winning in seats like Swindon.
“North, south, east, west, we can absolutely do it as a party. Some have actually suggested in the last few days that somehow this is now a 10-year project to get the Labour part back into office. I don’t hink we can have any truck with that at all.
“I think the Labour party can do that in five years. I want to lead that effort.”Chuka Umunna-jide-salu.com
Following Labour’s crushing defeat last Thursday a debate immediately erupted within the party over future direction – as well as who should lead it.
Mr Umunna – who studied law at Manchester and was tipped for high office even before being elected as MP for Streatham in 2010 – said he had been and spoken to dozens of losing Labour candidates over the last few days before announcing his bid.
His choice of Swindon is significant, with many within the party having insisted both before and after the election that Labour had done too little to appeal to centre-ground, aspiration voters in the south.
But he will face strong competition in his bid for office and is not without his detractors. Some within the party are suspicious of his slick style, more Blairite leanings and smart suits – and may well prefer a more familiar face or a female candidate.
Currently Mr Umunna is bookies’ favourite, however, followed by Andy Burnham and Leicester West MP Liz Kendall. Mr Burnham has not responded to the M.E.N’s request for an interview.
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