“We have become dangerously disconnected from ordinary working people, we’ve not been speaking their language, we’ve been dealing with issues that aren’t their main concerns..”
Andy Burnham MP
We are a grassroots alliance of party-members drawn from both left and right, North and South, united by the belief that our leadership election has been marked by the same damaging disconnection from the wider electorate that defined our worst days in government.
The narrative of our leadership election has all too often been shaped by the Guardian editorial team and a handful of influential figures within our party. We have focussed too much and too long upon fringe issues; and not enough on the voters we have lost, why we lost them, and how we win them back. It should be a source of considerable worry to Labour that, as the paper war over endorsements ends and the real battle for votes begins, we have a better idea on how the candidates stand on the alternative vote than deficit reduction.
We believe that this narrative has both hampered our party’s attempts to renew itself, and shut out the candidate we think is best-placed to lead Labour back into government: Andy Burnham.
Blairites and Brownites alike fell on May 6th. The time has come to move beyond those pitched battles. And Andy, alone amongst the credible candidates, was not a participant in the faction-fighting that marred our darkest days in government. The media will be unable to paint Andy as an heir to Blair or Brown. Devoid of the links to the past that bedevil the other candidates, Andy represents a fresh start for a tired party with a tattered brand.
At a time when the mood of ‘anti-politics’ is stronger than ever, Andy – MP for the area he grew up in – is a clear alternative to the Tory-Liberal government’s leaders and to the excesses of New Labour’s ‘command and control’ approach. But, at the same time, Andy’s strengths are not just superficial. His National Care Service would be the single most significant measure since the creation of the welfare state.
Every day, we’ll be providing both editorial and activist comment – on the state of the race and the state of the country. We’ll also be featuring submissions from MPs, councillors and activists on why they’re backing Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership. Our aim is simple: to convince the wider membership that Andy Burnham is the right man to lead our party and our country.
Even if you disagree, we hope you’ll join the debate on www.backburnham.com.
Tags: Alistair Strathern, Andy Burnham, Back Burnham, Labour leadership, Stephen Bush
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