Jess Phillips has endorsed Ian Murray as he bids to become Labour’s new deputy leader.
Ms Phillips, who on Tuesday ended her own campaign to become Labour leader, said Mr Murray had put forward a “positive vision” for the party.
The Edinburgh South MP is up against Dawn Butler, Angela Rayner, Richard Burgon and Rosena Allin-Khan in the deputy leadership race.
READ MORE: Ian Murray rules out independent Scottish version of Labour
Ms Phillips said: “Labour must be a party for every region and nation of the UK, standing up for our values of solidarity and working together, and Ian is the candidate who best understands that.
“Ian has put forward a positive vision not only for our party but also for the country.
“He recognises that we can’t just talk to ourselves – we must listen to voters in seats we held, seats we lost and seats we have never held.
“People didn’t trust Labour in the last election because they weren’t sure where we stood on the big issues of the day and Ian is right that this can never happen again.
“All his life he has fought and won against the odds and we need him at the top of our party.”
Welcoming the endorsement, Mr Murray said: “Jess has been a great friend and close confidante and I’m honoured to have her support.
“Even though she is no longer standing for leader, she will have a pivotal role in shaping our party’s future.
READ MORE: Jess Phillips outlines opposition to second Scottish independence vote
“She knows how to reconnect with voters who have left us and we need to draw on her talents to make Labour an election-winning force once again.”
He added: “My message is simple – if you are happy and satisfied with the current position of the Labour Party then don’t vote for me.
“I want us to change so we can win again.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel