Liz McInnes is backing Owen Smith in Labour leadership contest

Liz McInnes

Heywood and Middleton MP Liz McInnes is backing Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest, which has caused rumblings amongst Corbyn supporters in her Constituency Labour Party.

In a post on her website headed, "It's time to unite behind Owen", Ms McInnes says she has "completely lost faith in Jeremy".

Her reasoning includes:

• I have become concerned about his failure to condemn protests outside MPs’ offices, showing scant regard for the atmosphere of fear and grief that Jo Cox’s tragic death has created.
• His refusal to support a secret vote at the NEC meeting was a mistake and seems to suggest he really doesn’t understand the intimidating and threatening atmosphere his leadership is allowing to fester.
• He has the worst personal poll ratings of any opposition leader in living memory.
• Labour have been consistently behind in the polls since he took over, and in May we had the worst local election results of any opposition party in 40 years. 

About Mr Owen she says: "We need a leader who can articulate those values that all of us in Labour believe in but also a leader who can translate fine words and speeches into action and practical policies. And it is absolutely critical that we have a leader who can carry out the basic duties of a major political party competently and effectively. We need a leader who can unite our party, our members, Trade Unions and MPs, so that instead of fighting ourselves we all work together towards a common goal – to win the next General Election and start putting right the many wrongs which years of Tory rule have inflicted on our communities.

"I believe that Owen Smith is that leader. He has the principles of the Labour Party at his core and he has the ability to lead and unite. Above all, he is a principled man who I know would never put his own self-interest above that of the party. I have utmost confidence in him and that’s why I’ll be supporting his campaign."

To read the full post, visit:

http://www.lizmcinnesmp.org.uk/owen2016