Although the Milifandom wasn’t enough to lead Ed Miliband to victory at the polls, the cult movement did at least bring the former Labour leader’s lagging campaign some momentum in the final weeks of the election campaign. So perhaps it’s little surprise that the new Labour leadership hopefuls have been courting Milifandom founder Abby Tomlinson in a bid to win her endorsement ahead of the vote.
After meeting with each contender, Tomlinson has announced that she is backing Andy Burnham for leader. She says that she will give her second preference to Jeremy Corbyn — who has won the most union endorsements as well as CLP endorsements. Writing a comment piece in the Guardian, she writes that Burnham is the only candidate to inspire her since her first love Ed Miliband:
‘It was at the hustings I attended in Warrington that I realised something. Before that Saturday, none of the candidates had really inspired me. As someone who was prompted to join the party after being inspired, I didn’t feel any of them could do what Miliband had done and give me that fundamental drive that things needed to change.
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