MP says he and his rivals must not fall out as they confront ‘cliff face’ of electoral defeat

The Labour leadership hopeful Clive Lewis has called for unity among would-be candidates to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as they confront the “cliff face” of defeat.

The shadow Treasury minister said he would not fall out with fellow hopefuls while the party undergoes what he described as an “existential crisis”.

His remarks came in a complaint on Twitter over being contacted by the media to ask whether he agreed with the party chair, Ian Lavery, on why it lost the election so dramatically.

Lewis said setting out the divisions among people interested in the top job was not befitting of a party seeking to rebuild.

These are the questions Labour must answer if it is ever to win again | Martin Kettle Read more

Lavery – who supports Brexit and represents Wansbeck, a leave-voting seat in Northumberland – is a staunch supporter of Corbyn. He is tipped to run for the leadership himself and said in a piece in the Daily Mirror that Labour lost the election because of its position on the EU, infighting in the party and a lack of trust among voters that it could deliver its manifesto promises.

Lewis said he did not disagree with Lavery on how much rebuilding the party needed to do and would not be drawn into creating splits on how the party must change.

He tweeted: “Whilst I don’t agree with everything he’s said I do agree with parts of his analysis. So perhaps if all we use the coming elections [to succeed Corbyn] as a lens through which to listen to each other, we can work out a path ahead. Because Ian Lavery is correct to say we face an existential crisis as a party.

“As such, when you’re hanging by the fingernails on a cliff edge, it’s usually not a good time to start fighting with those dangling with you. Far better is to help each other work out the way back up the cliff face.”

Lewis, a former army reservist, was the second Labour MP to announce he wanted to run for leader, following the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry.

There are concerns Lewis might split the vote of leftwing members should he make it on to the ballot paper, potentially drawing support away from the shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long Bailey.

Thornberry wrote a lengthy Facebook message about her foreign policy priorities on New Year’s Day, taking a swipe at Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. She has been a regular critic of the US president, branding him a sexual predator and racist, and saying he is not welcome in the UK.

She wrote on Facebook: “Finally, I hope in November, our long global nightmare will be over and Donald Trump will be dumped out of office by the American people, and we will finally see the United States resume its role as a global leader on the issues that matter to us all.

“What’s more, Trump’s defeat would hopefully turn the tide on his vicious band of so-called ‘populist’ imitators around the globe, including our current PM.”

Thornberry regularly faced Johnson at the despatch box in the Commons when he was foreign secretary and has written of the need for someone with confidence and forensic skill to take him on in the chamber.