{UAH} Labour party leadership Voting closes in Labour leadership election

Comrade Akim Odong,/ WBK

The Labour Leadership campaign is officially over and we expect the
results on Saturday. It is almost certain that the Islington Marxist
Jeremy Corbyn has won. His victory will open up a new chapter for the
Labour Party . But it certainly is an end to Blairism in the Labour
Party. His legacy effectively ends on Saturday.


George Okello


Labour party leadership Voting closes in Labour leadership election
Liz Kendall concedes that her campaign has failed and says Jeremy
Corbyn has energised a party crying out for change
Liz Kendall: 'If Jeremy Corbyn wins, it would be a huge mistake not
to accept that result as legitimate.' Photograph: Ben Pruchnie/Getty
Images Patrick Wintour and Rowena Mason

Thursday 10 September 2015 20.15 BST
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Voting for the next Labour leader closed at midday with the candidate
expected to come fourth saying that the party must accept the
legitimacy of the result.


Liz Kendall conceded that her campaign had failed and that Jeremy
Corbyn – the man expected to be declared the winner on Saturday – had
energised a party crying out for change.

Related:
More on this topicLabour leadership voting period ends at 12pm - Politics live

Her speech marks the first of what is expected to be many frank
self-assessments on the Blairite wing of the party. "Everyone must –
and I believe will – accept the result and mandate of the new leader.
They will have won the right to pursue their agenda and must be given
the space and scope to do so.

"If Jeremy Corbyn wins, it would be a huge mistake not to accept that
result as legitimate. The voters will have made their decision and the
rest of us must accept it as such."

Acknowledging the leftwing MP's likely victory, she said Corybn's
campaign had "mobilised and enthused vast numbers of people in a way
we haven't seen for decades. The debate that's exploded during this
contest has been simmering for many years."

Kendall said Labour had not had a proper debate about its values for
too long, and conceded that her wing of the party had spent too long
avoiding the subject. "The last time we really debated the purpose of
our party and what we stand for, throughout the Labour movement, was
the reform of clause IV – 20 years ago," she added.

Some Labour members and supporters were also complaining online about
failing to receive ballot papers right up until the deadline for
voting. David Lammy, one of the six Labour London mayoral candidates,
claimed in the New Statesman that almost one in five Labour members in
the capital had not received a ballot paper.


Some party members were still receiving email links inviting them to
vote with just hours to go.

Related:
More on this topicLabour leadership race: 15 moments of a dramatic
campaign – interactive

The result of the leadership election is due to be declared at 11.30am
on Saturday, at a short special conference due to be held in
Westminster. The party's London mayoral nomination will be declared on
Friday, a result that may give a firmer indication of who is to win
the party leadership.

In her speech Kendall added a rider saying "whoever is elected must
recognise no leader has a mandate for untrammelled power. Anyone who
seeks to exacerbate divisions will only store up trouble for the
future. We must turn our focus to the public, and turn our fire onto
the Tories - who are the real enemy – and not turn in on ourselves."

She also hinted at the need for a major reorganisation on what had
previously been the mainstream of the party, arguing that old
divisions of the needed to be abandoned.

She said: "All of us who want a modern, electable and outward looking
Labour party must end the old Blairite/Brownite splits, which are long
past their sell-by date and should be buried once and for all."

Speaking to her supporters she also confirmed her decision not to
serve on the frontbench if Corbyn wins, saying: "I have too many
important differences with him, particularly on foreign policy and the
economy. Leaving Nato or Europe would be a disaster for Britain in an
increasingly risky and dangerous world".

Related:
More on this topicNot all lefties turn right with age. Far from it | Letters

She set out her other key differences with Corbyn, saying: "Spending
billions of pounds on renationalising swaths of the economy and
reopening coal mines won't create the high-skill, high-wage jobs of
the future or convince people we can be trusted with their money.


"And his plans for so-called 'people's quantitative easing' risk
destabilising our currency and pushing up inflation, harming the
living standards of millions of people in this country, particularly
the poor and low paid."

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