Let's play the long game

I've just blogged for the first time about the forthcoming Labour leadership election at Labourhome. Thought you might like to see it. It's hard to imagine that it was 16 years this month that I ran for the leadership of the Labour Party. Back then whilst the papers predicted there'd be quite a few runners and riders, it only came down to three people - myself, the acting leader Margaret Beckett and some young guy called Tony Blair. It was the first leadership contest to be fought under ‘one member one vote' - a principle I was proud to fight for with John Smith. Having that leadership election play out in public and in the media was not only healthy for the party but a brilliant platform to engage with those outside Labour. It also provided a fantastic springboard for the winner. That's why we should see this forthcoming leadership election as a great opportunity to discuss where Labour went wrong, identify how we can re-group and rebuild and finally rally round our elected leader. This is not a process that should be rushed. I'd like to...