Chuka Umunna, nicknamed the ‘British Obama’, a centre-left politician who specialises in business policy, said on Tuesday he would run for the leadership of Britain’s opposition Labour Party after the party suffered a heavy defeat in a national election last week.
Umunna, the son of a Nigerian immigrant, is a former lawyer who was first elected to parliament in 2010 and has been Labour’s business spokesman since 2011. He is one of the bookmakers’ favourites to win the job of party leader.
“I am pleased today to be announcing that I will be standing for the leadership of the party,” Umunna, 37, said in a video posted on Facebook.
“Some have actually suggested over the last few days that somehow this is now a 10 year project to get the Labour Party back into office … I think the Labour Party can do it in five years, I want to lead that effort.”
On Sunday, Umunna said that during the election campaign his party had concentrated its policies too much on the poorest and the richest, ignoring the majority of people in-between.
Umunna was reelected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham district in London last week.
[Reuters]
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