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Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has become the first MP to officially enter the race to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.
Writing in the Guardian, she said the next leader needed to have “the political nous and strategic vision to reunite our party”.
Sir Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, Lisa Nandy have said they are also considering standing in the election.
Meanwhile Tony Blair has accused Labour of “letting the country down”.
He also accused the Labour leadership of going into the election with a “strategy for defeat”.
Jeremy Corbyn has said he will stand down as leader “early next year” and the race to replace him could start on 7 January.
Ms Thornberry said Labour’s decision to back an election earlier this year was like “crackers voting for Christmas”.
She said she had written to the leader’s office warning “it would be ‘an act of catastrophic political folly’ to vote for the election”.
“Instead, I said we should insist on a referendum on his proposed deal, to get the issue of Brexit out of the way before any general election.”
‘A mountain to climb’
Meanwhile Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC he is “seriously considering” standing to be the next Labour leader.
The shadow Brexit secretary said Labour has “a mountain to climb” following its general election defeat.
Another potential contender Yvette Cooper said she would “decide over Christmas” about whether to stand.
Reflecting on Labour’s defeat, Sir Keir – who was calling for another EU referendum – said the party had failed to “knock back” the Conservatives’ “get Brexit done” slogan.
He also attacked the Labour’s manifesto arguing it “had too much in it” adding “we couldn’t see the wood for the trees”.
Looking to the party’s future, he said: “What Corbyn bought to the Labour party was a change of emphasis – radicalism that really matters – we need to build on that, not oversteer and go back to a bygone age.”
Asked whether he considered himself to be a Corbynite, Sir Keir said: “I don’t need someone else’s name tattooed on my head to make decisions.”
Labour’s defeats in the North of England constituencies has led some to say the next leader should not come from London.
However Sir Keir said the Labour leader needed to “be able to talk to everyone” in the UK.
The former director of public prosecutions also insisted that “my background isn’t what people think it is”, adding that he had “never been in any other workplace than a factory” before he went to university.
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper -who was defeated by Mr Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership contest – has also said she is considering another bid, saying she would “reflect over Christmas” on it.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, she said Labour had “a long road to travel” adding that the party needed to tackle anti-Semitism, restore “kindness to our politics” and be more “inclusive”.
Other candidates believed to be considering running to be leader include:
- Tottenham MP and ex-Business Minister David Lammy,
- MP for Norwich South and ex-shadow Treasury minister Clive Lewis,
- Salford and Eccles MPs and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey,
- MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips
- Wigan MP and former shadow environment secretary Lisa Nandy
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