No left candidate in Labour deputy leadership race
Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Barking and Dagenham, has cleared the threshold to stand in the election for Labour’s deputy leader, leading to renewed calls by some on the left to support his campaign. But is Cruddas in any meaningful sense a left candidate? He is not definitively more left-wing than, for instance, Peter Hain or even Hilary Benn. Yes, he has made critical noises about New Labour’s record, and even talked about the need to restore class to the centre of the Labour Party’s agenda. But noises are really all they are. His only concrete distinction is his support for the Trade...