Labour leadership: Miliband confirms his candidacy
By Aled Thomas
David Miliband has confirmed he will stand for the leadership of the Labour party.
“This is a new era,” he said.
“No longer the party in government, we must be leaders of real change.
“I believe that at this election contest can be a credit to the Labour party. It can be open, warm, and generous.”
“The decision on Liberal Democrats to join the Conservatives is a momentous moment for the Labour party – it places the responsibility on us.”
Mr Miliband will officially launch his campaign in South Shields at the beginning of next week but plans to spend the time in between visiting UK constituencies speaking to members of the public.
He already received a boost when Alan Johnson said he wouldn’t stand and endorsed his candidacy.
Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “No I’m not [going to stand]. I am going to support David Miliband.
“I think we have a bevy of great talent there. David is the greatest talent. I think he is a remarkable politician and his talent is to put very complex ideas into clear language, so I will be backing him.
“We need the broadest possible contest, having had the narrowest possible contest when Gordon took over.”
MP for Don Valley, Caroline Flint, also said she wanted Mr Miliband as leader.
She told the BBC: “We need to get cracking. We can have a full debate and reflect on why we lost, but getting a new leader in place will put us in a fighting mood for any election.”
Harriet Harman has taken over as interim leader since Mr Brown’s immediate resignation, but she has also ruled herself out of the race.
Mr Miliband is the bookies’ frontrunner, his younger brother Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham and Ed Balls are all expected to enter the race.
Some media reports say there is growing pressure on John Cruddas to stand as a figure from the left of the party, although he remains close to David Miliband, having worked together as aides to Tony Blair.
The party’s national executive is deciding how to run the contest which will ballot all party members and trades union affiliates.
There is pressure in the party to have the contest finished soon, in order to have a leader in place by the next election which some may feel is not too far off. But Labour’s coffers are depleted following an election campaign and any ballot may be put back until the autumn.
