Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that he will be backing Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna to become Labour’s next leader.
The former Prime Minister’s friends revealed that Blair saw Umunna as Labour’s ‘natural heir’ and has said that the two share many of the same views.
He is said to have particular admiration for Umunna’s stance on immigration.
Meanwhile, Blair has criticised current ‘career politicians’, such as current Labour leader Ed Miliband who he believes are completely out of touch with the general public.
“At the very time when leadership is needed, the gene pool of political leaders has shrunk,” Blair wrote in the New York Times. “How many leaders and, for that matter, followers in a parliament or congress have real-life experience in responsible positions outside of politics?”
Despite Blair’s backing, and several reports that Umunna has been vying for Miliband’s position, Umunna has remained loyal to Milliband and denied allegations that he is looking to take Miliband’s place.
Umunna recently described Miliband as ‘a man of honest, sincerity (and) deep beliefs’, who he fully supports.
“Chuka was one of the first MPs to back Ed Miliband’s leadership campaign in 2010 and is fully focused on Labour winning next year and putting Ed into No 10, a friend of Umunna told The Independent.His feet are firmly on the ground and he doesn’t get distracted by stories like this. He has met Tony Blair before, but so have many LabourMPs.”
