Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Parliament better without Bercow, says minister

Dawn Butler: ‘I’m the most experienced candidate’…

Sophy Ridge started her show by speaking to Dawn Butler, one of Labour’s five deputy leadership contenders. Butler, who was first elected in 2005, argued her case for being chosen:

“I am the most experienced candidate.”@DawnButlerBrent MP explains her strategy to become deputy Labour leader, claiming that she is the “unity candidate”.#Ridge


DB: I am the most experienced candidate. I’ve served under two Labour Prime Ministers and in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, and I am the unity candidate. I’ve got the temperament to work with everybody, and I’ve worked with everybody – all the MPs in Parliament.

…Jeremy Corbyn won’t be an issue next time…

Butler echoed many of her fellow candidates when asked about why Labour lost the general election last December, telling Ridge that the manifesto had overwhelmed the electorate with a surplus of complicated policies. Butler deliberately sought to avoid blaming Jeremy Corbyn for the defeat, but hinted that he had been viewed negatively by voters:


DB: We didn’t have a proper strategy in place, and the messaging of delivering our manifesto was too complex… and there was just too much of it… This isn’t about blame… Jeremy Corbyn is now stepping down… so he will no longer be brought up on the doorsteps.

…black people ‘are invisible’ as human beings…

Butler highlighted recent instances of being mistaken for her fellow MPs Marsha de Cordova and Bell Ribeiro-Addy by media organisations.

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