Rebecca Long-Bailey: why she must step out from Corbyn’s shadow

Most people were always going to view Rebecca Long-Bailey’s bid for Labour’s top job through the lens of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. That meant some members would never get behind his chosen

successor, while others were destined to vote for Long-Bailey come what may.

The contest to replace a leader as polarising as Corbyn was always going to have that effect. On some occasions, Long-Bailey has struggled to break out of the straitjacket of being seen as

the continuity candidate. On others, she has actively leaned into it, as when she was recently interviewed by Corbyn for a campaign video.

But the differences between Long-Bailey and Corbyn are more interesting than the similarities. She has proved her worth by taking on the gruelling slog of media spokesperson, passionately

putting forward the party’s agenda. She’s both brighter and more interesting than anyone who wants to simply paint her as Corbyn Mark II allows.

In interviews and articles, Long-Bailey’s focus has been relentlessly domestic. Corbyn’s politics, on the other hand, were almost exclusively shaped by foreign policy interests, his domestic

radicalism coming in its wake, almost as an afterthought.

As Shadow Business Secretary, mentee of Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and champion of the Green Industrial Revolution, Long-Bailey has put an economic and environmental vision at the

heart of her campaign. Critics say that this doesn’t do enough to distinguish her from the other candidates, as the Green Industrial Revolution is Labour Party policy. But the way she sold

the policy to the unions was a sign of her political deftness.

Like her competitor Lisa Nandy, Long-Bailey was born in the Greater Manchester area. Her family then moved out to Cheshire when her father took a job with Shell after being made unemployed.

It was his experiences as a trade unionist, along with her mother’s passion as an activist, which shaped Long-Bailey’s politics. During her first job, working in a pawnshop, she saw

first-hand the sense of desperation that life on the edge brings to people. It is this that fuels her radicalism and her focus on economics. While she was the first in her family to attend

university and became a lawyer, she hasn’t forgotten how her upbringing affected her.

There are valid concerns about Long-Bailey and whether she would be able to break with the cultural problems that bedevilled Corbyn’s Labour. She has been criticised for giving Corbyn 10/10

on his leadership, and for not standing up to a questioner asking about “The Israel lobby” at a campaign Q & A (she has since said she regrets not doing so).

She is backed by Len McCluskey of the Unite union — one of the loudest voices to claim Labour’s anti-Semitism shame was a smear campaign. She is also backed by Momentum, whose Chair, Jon

Lansman, is running her campaign. There are fears that a lack of change behind the scenes would stop Labour from moving on, especially in acting on what are likely to be the devastating

conclusions of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission investigation into anti-Semitism.

However, Long-Bailey has also left those who agree with McCluskey’s position, aggrieved, by calling herself a Zionist and agreeing to sign up to the pledges given to all the candidates by

the Board of Deputies of British Jews. This tension may be at the heart of why Long-Bailey’s candidacy hasn’t properly taken off in the way Corbyn’s did. She is trying to offer moderated

Corbynism to a membership who largely either want the full strength version or want nothing to do with it at all.

This problem was compounded by a scramble by some on the left at the start of the contest, to find a different candidate, with Ian Lavery and Barry Gardiner both briefly being floated as

potential contenders. While the machinery did eventually swing behind Long-Bailey, this put a spotlight on her perceived weaknesses from the start.

Where Corbyn was an insurgent, she represents incumbency. You can’t be an anti-establishment candidate from the shadow cabinet when your wing of the party has run everything for years. There

is a strain on the left that prefers a betrayal narrative to power and prefers to run against something than stand for it.

Long-Bailey hasn’t offered quite such a dour worldview in her largely positive campaign. But she hasn’t completely disavowed Corbyn and this will constrain her ability to reach across the

party. This is shown most starkly in the polling. Long-Bailey is currently in second place, and if third-placed Lisa Nandy were to drop out, Long-Bailey would take very few of her

supporters. Her vote only goes up 2 per cent overall after votes are reallocated, leading to an even starker gap between her and front runner Kier Starmer.

Despite the fact that this contest was originally seen as the Corbynite candidates to lose, Rebecca Long-Bailey is not the favourite to win next month. Whatever the ultimate result, when,

eventually, there is distance between her and the Corbyn leadership, there will be a better space for her genuine talent to flourish outside his shadow.

By proceeding, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and our Privacy Policy.

If an account exists for this email address, you will shortly receive an email from us. You will then need to:

Please note, this link will only be valid for 24 hours. If you do not receive our email, please check your Junk Mail folder and add [email protected] to your safe list.