Should Labour’s next leader be a woman?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/17/should-labours-next-leader-be-a-woman

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Letters: Readers debate Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore’s argument for a female-led opposition

Suzanne Moore says she wants “an opposition led by a woman” (Let Labour’s fightback begin with a woman as leader, 17 December).

Positive discrimination is already used by the Labour party, where safe seats in local council elections are earmarked for women only. That does not mean that the best candidates are necessarily selected. Surely the next leader of the Labour party should be chosen on merit?

Jess Phillips, Stella Creasy, and Emily Thornberry are all intelligent, engaging politicians capable of “making radical policies sound like crisp common sense”, as Moore suggests. However, Keir Starmer, the only male on the current list of possible leadership contenders, is a very able, experienced politician who has gravitas and plenty of voter appeal.

In order to pose a credible challenge to an invigorated Tory party, Labour needs a pragmatic resilient centrist. That may not necessarily be a woman.Rose KavanaghCambridge

• Labour needs to take swift action on the leadership and begin the process before Christmas (Rivals poised as battle for Labour’s future begins, 16 December).

The sooner Boris Johnson faces a leader who is prepared to mix it verbally across the dispatch box, and challenge his lies and character, the sooner Labour’s reputation will begin to be repaired. It has to be a woman, and about time too.

Angela Rayner has not put a foot wrong as shadow education secretary. She has been totally loyal to the Labour project. Media savvy, with a background and experience to appeal to the north, along with Keir Starmer as deputy, she can give hope back to those left behind by the election result. She can mix it too – witness her appearance on C4’s 18-30 debate. Rayner is the potential Labour leader the Tories most fear. Let’s hope Labour gets it right at this critical time.Adrian QuinnChepstow, Monmouthshire

• At last, the perfect opportunity has arisen for the Labour party to resurrect itself. It can present a new image that will be truly transformational, demonstrating that it understands that real democracy requires gender equality and women’s empowerment at its centre. It should adapt the Kurdish model of “co-chairs”, a man and a woman heading every decision-making body. Margaret Owen London

• The paramount question that should be asked of any candidate for the Labour leadership is whether they support proportional representation. As far as I am aware, none of those being touted as potential leaders has ever voiced support. Labour, perhaps even more than the Tories, is institutionally and historically wedded to the idea that under first-past-the-post it is possible to win a decent majority with less than 40% of the vote.

Essentially, the political spectrum in England involves two great camps – the conservative centre-right and the social-liberal centre-left. The problem for the latter is that while its opponents organise around one political party, the Tories, it is fragmented between Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens. This fragmentation is further compounded in Scotland and Wales. The injustice of the FPTP system is especially acute in Scotland where an overwhelmingly centre-left and heavily anti-Brexit majority is ignored by a dominant English nationalist hegemony.

It is possible, with the loss of its heartlands and the breakdown of personal identification through class, that Labour is now unable to win a majority on its own. A commitment to PR by a new leader would immediately bring hope to the anti-Tory majority.Brian WilsonGlossop, Derbyshire

• I have nothing against Rebecca Long-Bailey as a person but politically she is a charisma vacuum with a voice that sends you to sleep. Labour needs a passionate, charismatic personality – Jess Phillips is my choice – if it is to stand a chance of gaining power.Helen Clutton Bristol

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