1/4/2024 0 Comments Tom whatson![]() In August, he told the Guardian that Labour members did not like being told who not to vote for and called on the parliamentary party to see the leadership contest as exciting, rather than being frightened of debate. He helped uncover the phone-hacking scandal and to expose child abuse in the establishment.ĭuring the deputy leadership contest, he tried to take on the role of peacemaker and played down dire warnings from the Blairite wing of the party as overly alarmist. Watson is perhaps best known as a dogged campaigner on issues related to civil liberties and privacy. Under Ed Miliband, he was made election coordinator but resigned from his post during the Falkirk vote-rigging scandal, saying he wanted to preserve party unity and claiming he no longer wanted to be on the political merry-go-round. He was associated closely with Gordon Brown in the last Labour government and played a key role in trying to get rid of Tony Blair as prime minister. Watson has a reputation as a formidable organiser with deep links to local parties and the trade unions, including Unite, whose general secretary Len McCluskey was once his flatmate. Watson, who was the frontrunner throughout, will now be a key figure in efforts to build bridges between the new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and the parliamentary party, which overwhelmingly did not want the Islington North MP to win. His message to Tories sniggering about what they perceive as Labour weakness was to “watch this space and watch your backs”. The contest had been a referendum on the culture of Labour politics as much as policies, because people were sick of the old way of doing things, he said.
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