Labour leadership race: Nandy’s rapid rise continues with key union endorsement

The GMB union’s nomination of Lisa Nandy for Labour leader means that she now needs the endorsement of only one more Labour party affiliated body to reach the final stage of the leadership election. That should not be too difficult. It also gives her a powerful backer in the ongoing race. GMB has deep reserves of funds, lots of activists, and contact lists of Labour members which will be of great help when canvassing. The endorsement also cements Nandy’s rapid ascent from speculative candidate, to dark horse, to serious candidate for the leadership.

Endorsing Nandy Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, said:

“Lisa Nandy is a breath of fresh air in the debate over Labour’s future. The more members see of Lisa in this contest the more impressed they will be by her ambition, optimism and decisive leadership. GMB is proud to nominate her. Lisa won’t shy away from the tough challenges or bold decisions that lie ahead, because she knows that after fifteen years of losing elections, more of the same won’t cut it. A candidate entrenched in the union movement, Lisa gets the scale of the challenge. She will raise Labour’s game with a bold agenda that puts people first and grounds politics in their lives.”

Having cleared this hurdle Nandy’s main challenge is now a relative lack of name recognition. Since 2016 she has been confined to the backbenches, and before that was only ever a shadow minister. However, Nandy’s rapid rise in the race, and this big endorsement, should help drive more coverage and attention. Whether members subsequently warm to her will hinge on if she can convince them both of her diagnosis – that to win back power Labour must win back the towns that turned Tory in the 2019 general election – and that she is the candidate best positioned to deliver the cure.

Here lingering resentments over her resignation from the Corbyn shadow cabinet, as part of the attempt to force his resignation, and subsequent co-chairing of Owen Smith’s leadership challenge may prove an issue for the members.

But her absence from the Corbyn front-bench in the recent general election may also let Nandy burnish her outsider credentials – and run as a change or die candidate. This is especially the case as the other candidate attempting to build this profile, Jess Phillips, has just exited the leadership race. Phillips has also previously stated that if she wasn’t running she would be backing Nandy.

While a recent YouGov poll showed Phillips only winning the support of some 11% of Labour members, if Nandy can take those votes that would still represent a substantial boost to Nandy, whose support stood at 7%, and give her a good deal of momentum.

Of course, it is unclear if Phillips and her supporters do in fact swing behind Starmer as the moderate front-runner. Still, my bet on Nandy is looking more promising than ever.