Lisa Nandy urged Chuka Umunna to wrestle back control of the party from the hard left
A Labour MP has branded Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership ‘hell’ and urged Chuka Umunna to wrestle back control of the party from the hard left.
Lisa Nandy, seen as on the soft left of Labour, said she felt like there was a battle going on for the ‘soul’ of the party – and the future of the country.
The Labour conference in Brighton over the coming days promises to be the most left-wing in decades – underlining the growing control of the faction in the party.
It is Mr Corbyn’s third conference as leader, and the first where his position is not under serious threat.
The better than expected performance for Labour in the general election, which saw the Tories lose their overall majority, has ensured he will not face another challenge.
But there is still anxiety among many in the party about the direction in which it is heading – especially as the polls are still showing the main parties neck and neck despite damaging Cabinet infighting as Theresa May pushes through Brexit.
Ms Nandy, who quit Mr Corbyn’s team in protest last year, told the Sun on Sunday: ‘This for me is a battle not just for the soul of the Labour Party but for the future of this country.’
Ms Nandy called Mr Corbyn’s style of leadership ‘closed, top down and undemocratic’ and the years since he became leader ‘hell’.
A series of rule changes are expected to be passed to limit the influence of more centrist MPs, while members of the Momentum campaign group are set to flood the hall and fringe events.
Only a handful of Mr Corbyn’s close allies are due to give speeches from the main stage, including shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry.
Even London Mayor Sadiq Khan was not initially granted a slot, although a time was finally agreed after protests.
The Labour leader underscored his revolutionary credentials at a rally in the city last night attended by hundreds of activists – some bearing Socialist Worker Party placards.
Bizarrely coming on stage to the theme tune from 1980s American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Mr Corbyn vowed to ‘transfer the wealth’.
Mr Corbyn, pictured on a visit to a table tennis club in Brighton yesterday, underscored his revolutionary credentials at a rally in the city last night attended by hundreds of activists
Ms Nandy called Mr Corbyn’s style of leadership ‘closed, top down and undemocratic’ and the years since he became leader ‘hell’