LABOUR’S gruelling leadership contest finally spluttered to an end yesterday – with Labour’s only Scottish MP Ian Murray conceding that he would be willing to serve in the expected winner’s Cabinet.
Four months after Ed Miliband stood down, MPs, party members, trade union affiliates and the new legion of party supporters who have each paid £3 for a vote, are now within 24 hours of discovering who their new leader will be.
Murray, who publicly backed Yvette Cooper in the leadership race, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme he would serve “if I’m asked to do so”.
He said: “I think we need a strong Scottish voice in the shadow Cabinet; I think people would expect Scotland to be properly represented in that shadow Cabinet and we’ve got a good job to do.”
The leadership contest has not been well-natured.
Most polls and pundits have called the race for Jeremy Corbyn. For the veteran left-winger to win with anything other than a landslide would be something of a surprise and an upset. Yet, there are plenty in the party predicting such an upset.
Many supporters claim they never received their ballot paper. One Labour source told The Guardian the figure was likely in the thousands.
Corbyn’s campaign team is conscious that the recent “purge” of party members is likely to have impacted on them most.
Labour said around 4,500 people had been purged from the vote for not supporting “the aims and values” of the party. They also said the purge would go on right up until the announcement on Saturday.
The party came under fire after it closed the special helpline set up to help those who hadn’t received a ballot on Tuesday – two days before the vote.
Labour’s new leader and deputy leader will be announced tomorrow at 11.30am. The party’s candidate for Mayor of London will be announced today with Tessa Jowell expected to win.
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