Barry Gardiner: I can win a general election

Will Barry Gardiner enter the race to become leader of the Labour party? The Shadow international development secretary certainly thinks he has what it takes. Following reports last night that he was mulling a shock late entry into the leadership contest, Gardiner appeared on Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC show this morning, live from Abu Dhabi, where he was on a trade trip.

The interview didn’t exactly go smoothly. Asked by Derbyshire what he could bring to the table as leader of the Labour party that his fellow candidates lacked, Gardiner responded: ‘I can win a general election’ – not exactly a vote of confidence in the current crop of contenders.

Gardiner was forced to hastily assure the audience that Labour’s other wannabe leaders weren’t doomed to failure, and then went on to praise his own ‘ability to communicate.’

“I can win a general election”@BarryGardiner says colleagues have told him he has the “ability to communicate and bring the dynamism to debate necessary to go out to the country”

The MP says he's still undecided as to whether to stand for Labour leaderhttps://t.co/X3zJlyoix0 pic.twitter.com/CzocEpJIDn

— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) January 9, 2020

Gardiner then insisted that he was ‘in Abu Dhabi because I’m passionate about climate change’, before having to quickly concede that he flew to the Emirates. Whoops.

Labour’s leadership contest is starting to resemble a circus…