Deputy candidate Ben Bradshaw meets Ipswich Labour Party
Labour’s deputy leadership candidate Ben Bradshaw in Ipswich. - Credit: Sarah Lucy brown
Another candidate hoping to become deputy leader of the Labour Party has met members in Ipswich to explain why he wants the job.
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, a Labour minister under Tony Blair and a cabinet minister under Gordon Brown, said he knew the challenges in winning seats in areas that were not traditionally good for the party.
He said: “I am not from a London seat or a northern seat. I know how important it is for the party to be able to win seats like Ipswich.
“I’ve done that in Exeter – I trebled my majority in May. We have to be able to appeal to people in seats like this who want a better life for themselves. We have to be able to win votes off the Conservatives all over the country.”
Mr Bradshaw was brought up in Norwich and worked as a journalist in Norfolk before joining the BBC. He has been an MP since 1997.
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He visited Ipswich a week after fellow deputy leadership candidate Angela Eagle visited the town.
Mr Bradshaw is seen as being on the Blairite wing of the party – but insisted he could work with any of the candidates for leader.
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He said: “Whoever is elected as deputy will have their own mandate from the party, but will work closely with the leader whoever that is – and I am ready to work with any of the current candidates for that role.”
