With a possible LAB leadership in prospect Laura Pidcock could be the one to get Jezza’s backing
Her odds make her an interesting bet
Of all the political betting markets available one that we haven’t looked at for a very long time is on who will succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party. He has looked totally secure in his position even though he has recently seen his personal poll ratings dropped to record lows.
Corbyn, now 70, doesn’t appear to be enjoying the job that he has occupied since his shock victory in the September 2015 Labour leadership contest.
One thing that we keep on hearing from the party is a view that the next leader should be a woman. LAB is alone amongst the major parties with MPs at Westminster never to have had a female person at the top. If that’s the case then who could that be?
Emily Thornberry has been a major figure in the party for many years and looks set to be a possible contender. Then there is Rebecca Long Bailey who for a time looked as though she was the favourite of the incumbent Mr Corbyn. Now there are suggestions that the person who would get the backing, however informally, of the incumbent would be be the 32 year old MP from North West Durham, Laura Pidcock.
Rachel Wearmouth in Huffpost had a piece outlining Pidcock’s credentials at the weekend and that’s caused me to have a flutter at 16/1 with Ladbrokes on her getting the job. She wrote:
“this summer has revealed the extent to which Laura Pidcock is favoured by powerful left-wing unions such as Len McCluskey’s Unite, and by Corbyn himself.
Despite being elected for the first time in 2017, the campaigning MP has rapidly risen through the ranks to shadow minister and was earlier this month quietly promoted to shadow secretary of state for workers’ rights.
Pidcock now attends meetings of Corbyn’s top team where she has been described by some as “Jeremy’s de-facto deputy” as Watson’s appearances thin out. ..“
A brief look on YouTube suggests that she’s a much more engaging speaker than Long-Bailey.