Abbott: I’m the real change candidate
By Ian Dunt
Diane Abbott has tried to position herself as the Labour leadership’s only real change candidate, in an interview with politics.co.uk.
The left-wing MP, who has been the most outspoken of all the candidates, made the comments as she fights to stay on in the race during its closing stages.
Ballot papers were sent out to Labour members this week and a new leader will be picked just before the party’s autumn conference.
Most analysts are treating the contest as a two-horse race between the two Miliband brothers, with Ed Miliband considered the leftist ‘change’ candidate, but Ms Abbott suggested her four competitors had more uniting than separating them.
Asked about her comment that the leadership race consisted of ‘geeky men in suits’, she replied: “The issue from my four rivals is not so much what they look like but what they stand for.
“They all want to stay in Afghanistan. None of them want to scrap trident. None query public sector cuts – their only concern is about timing.”
Ms Abbott, the only candidate not to serve in Cabinet during New Labour’s time in power, has struggled to secure consistent media attention during the race and is trailing on odds of 125/1, according to bookmakers Paddy Power.
But asked if she would accept a Cabinet position from one of the other contenders should she lose the vote, she was noncommittal.
“I haven’t embarked on this leadership campaign to get a seat in Cabinet,” she said.
“I’ve embarked on it to win it, but also to raise the issues which I know are of concern.
“If by chance I don’t win I will continue campaigning on those issues.”
Expectations that Ms Abbott might be given a shadow Cabinet seat if Ed Miliband won the race were cemented when he said she should not be limited to her TV appearances with Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo when the race is over.
“I’m not naming a shadow Cabinet… that would be seen as presumptuous, and rightly so,” he was quoted by the Times as saying during an event in Bethnal Green.
“But Diane shouldn’t just go back to This Week when this is over. She has a part to play.”
The Labour leader will be confirmed on September 25th.
