You can count the number of Labour council leaders in the South East on one hand. The total number of Labour councils in the South East, East Midlands, Eastern region and the South West are too few and far between.

Milton Keynes is one of them and I am proud to be its Labour Leader.

Like in too many other places, we didn’t win the council seats in Milton Keynes that we needed to win in May. In fact we went backwards. We also lost a number of good, hardworking councillors and now have only one more seat than the Conservatives on Milton Keynes Council. Next year we are defending ten councillors in very marginal wards. We also lost the two key marginal parliamentary seats heavily.

I want a Labour Party than can win in the South East and in all parts of the UK. I want a Labour Party that fights to make sure everyone can get on.  I want a Labour Party of principles but also based in the reality that to have real influence, Labour needs to win in places like MK. A strong, united Labour Party.

After seeing him in Milton Keynes yesterday, I have decided to back Andy Burnham to be our next leader.

Andy has experience in fighting for Labour values. He has argued for a different approach to Social Care for nearly a decade and as Shadow Health Secretary he has defended the NHS from Tory privatisation.

He understands that you need to talk to everyone and have broad appeal. Labour is strongest when we talk to everyone. Andy’s vision for housing, allowing councils to build new houses but also helping everyone who wants to get onto the housing ladder, speaks loudly to many people.

The pledge of affordable, reliable public transport is a winner here in Milton Keynes and across the South East where rail fares have rocketed and bus services are poor.

Andy has pledged to trust our councillors again and offer real local accountability over public services, schools, transport and planning. He has by far the most comprehensive and cohesive offer to Local Government from a national politician in generations.

However Labour can only make a difference when we run councils and we are in government nationally. In order to win again in towns like Milton Keynes we need to win people who voted Tory or UKIP.

We tried the idea of just winning disgruntled Lib Dems in May, it failed. Believing we can win by appealing to only a handful of Greens and disaffected idealists is misguided. I fear that a Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn will simply not be credible in places like Milton Keynes and we will lose good councillors. We will be letting down the people who need us most if we are not credible, and worse, irrelevant to large sections of society.  

I am proud to be a member of the Labour Party and hugely honoured to be a Labour council leader. I want Labour to win across the county, be a strong opposition to the Tories in Westminster and be the next Government. Now more that ever the county needs a strong, united and credible Labour Party. Only Andy Burnham can offer that. He is not only a man of vision, but a man of principle. I’m backing him to not only be the next leader of the Labour Party, but to be the next Labour Prime Minister. 

 

Cllr Peter Marland

Leader, Milton Keynes Council

@pete_marland