Miliband is best leader to defeat this government

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He’s not ‘Red Ed’, he’s ‘Our Ed’, says Glenda Jackson, as she offers her support for his election as the Labour Party’s 20th leader

Published: 30 September, 2010

SATURDAY, September 25, heralded the dawn of a new era for the Labour Party, with the election of Ed Miliband as its 20th leader. I am delighted with this result, and proud to say that Ed was, and remains, my first choice for leader. 

The Party website published a full list of MPs’ votes following Saturday’s announce­ment, and due to a glitch on their system, my details were published erroneously. 

Thus followed an avalanche of phone calls to my office asking why I hadn’t voted! 

Thankfully, this mistake has now been rectified and my support for Ed is clear. 

Much is being made of the contest between Ed and his brother this week. However, as both have stressed, this contest is now in the past. 

The Milibands are not the Cain and Abel of the 21st century, and our focus should no longer be on their relationship, but on the future of the Party; a future which, I sincerely believe, now looks a lot brighter, thanks to Saturday’s result. 

Ed is passionately committed to our people and country, and will be the best leader to defeat the coalition government in its proposed unbridled attacks on both.

The cuts imposed by the coalition are beginning to take their effects. 

The Building Schools for the Future programme – so important for my constituency and the country as a whole – has been all but cancelled. The devastating consequences of this curtailment will be felt for years to come. 

Universal benefits such as child benefit  and the winter fuel allowance are under review, the results of which are unlikely to be positive for our society’s most vulnerable people. 

As the Liberal Democrats sit on their 30 pieces of silver and pander to the Tories’ every whim, it falls to the Labour Party to pose the only credible opposition to Cameron’s team at the next election.

We now couldn’t be in a stronger position, with a resurgent party united under a strong and motivated leader ready to take on the twin challenges of a government with no sense of social justice and an economy that can only continue to suffer under a regime of cuts, cuts, and more cuts. 

Ed spoke from the heart in his maiden speech as leader, describing his beliefs and values as his “anchors”. This is the sort of strength that Labour needs in order to come together in powerful opposition against the coalition government and its ravaging cuts and hypocrisy. I, for one, will be glued to my TV screen to watch Ed’s adversarial streak shine through as he steers his first Prime Minister’s Questions in a few weeks’ time with the sharp wit that he has become known for during his years in office.

Ed Miliband is not “Red Ed” – he is “our Ed”, and under his leadership I am sure that Labour can win back the confidence of the British public, and secure a significant majority at the next election. He will usher in a bright new era for the Labour Party and for the people of this country to whom, under Ed’s leadership, we will offer a range of opportunities which are currently being denied by the coalition. 

This country needs an opposition that will take a stand against the arrogance of the current government, and with Ed at the helm, I am confident that Labour will be the party to do so. He is a leader whose priority is the Great British public, and his eagerness to serve us is a commitment by which I can wholeheartedly stand.

• Glenda Jackson is Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn