Lisa Nandy as Labour’s next leader would “end the in-fighting” in the party and “deliver a vision for real change”, 60 supporters – including Jonathan Ashworth – have said in a new open letter, LabourList can reveal.

Writing after the leadership candidate and MP for Wigan secured more than the MP and MEP nominations required to enter the next stage of the election, figures from across the labour movement have set out their reasons for backing Nandy.

The group of MPs, cabinet members, peers, councillors, former ministers, Assembly Members and activists say their preferred candidate has “the ideas to unite our party again” and “the insights needed to reconnect with the people that Labour must win back”.

Highlighting her work on protecting the rights of child migrants and as chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, the signatories argue that Nandy has “time and again demonstrated the kind of leadership that has too often been absent from our politics”.

The advocates conclude their letter by saying: “The future of the Labour Party lies in our ability to set aside factionalism and to empower every part of our movement. It is time to end the in-fighting, and to deliver a vision for real change.”

Below is the full text of the open letter by Lisa Nandy supporters.

To the editor,

This election result was devastating for our party, our movement, and those lifelong Labour voters who felt that they had little choice but to vote for the Tories. Our defeat was years in the making.

Too many people feel that Labour is unwilling or unable to understand their lives. They no longer believed in our ability to deliver radical change or to protect the things that mattered to them. In order to win back the trust of these communities Labour must be rooted in them, listen to them, and be prepared to work to regain their trust.

We are a group of MPs, peers, councillors, Assembly Members, activists and former ministers who believe we need a leader who can do this and who has the ideas to unite our party again as well as the insights needed to reconnect with the people that Labour must win back. We believe that person is Lisa Nandy.

For a decade Lisa has given a voice in Westminster to those who have felt silenced in the national debate. From protecting the rights of child migrants and fighting for the recognition of Palestine, to holding the government to account on its failed rail franchising, and championing the achievements of Labour councils in working to tackle the climate crisis, Lisa has time and again demonstrated the kind of leadership that has too often been absent from our politics.

She has stood shoulder to shoulder with our public sector staff and trade unions to demand better conditions at work, taken the fight to Tory Prime Ministers in parliament, and is the only leadership candidate to have served both as a local councillor and in the shadow cabinet. That is the kind of leader we need.

The future of the Labour Party lies in our ability to set aside factionalism and to empower every part of our movement. It is time to end the in-fighting, and to deliver a vision for real change.

Yours,

Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley

Jon Ashworth, MP for Leicester South

Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham & Deptford

Stephanie Peacock, MP for Barnsley East

Alex Norris, MP for Nottingham North

Peter Hain, Labour peer and former MP for Neath

Ian McCartney, Former MP and Former Chair of the Labour Party

Baroness Morris of Yardley, Former MP and Secretary of State for Education and Skills

Baroness Taylor of Bolton, Former Minister of International Defence and Security

Sir Tony Cunningham, Former MP for Workington and Minister under Gordon Brown

Chris Grocock, Councillor, Rushcliffe Borough Council

Charlotte Galsworthy, Councillor, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council

Georgia Power, Councillor, Nottingham City Council

Jay Hayes, Councillor, Nottingham City Council

Stephen Cunnah, Councillor, Cardiff Council

Calvin Rodgerson, Councillor, Carlisle City Council

Maggie McTernan, Councillor, Glasgow City Council

Eva Murray, Councillor, Glasgow City Council

Dave Thompson, Councillor, Halton Borough Council

John Reynolds, Councillor, Lancaster City Council

Andrew Achilleos, Councillor, Barking & Dagenham London Borough Council

Polly Billington, Councillor, Hackney London Borough Council

Mark Francis, Councillor, Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

Asma Islam, Councillor, Tower Hamlets London Borough Council

Ros Flowers, Councillor, Waltham Forest London Borough Council

Craig Wright, Councillor, Middlesbrough Borough Council

Joe Ferreira, Councillor, Bexley London Borough Council

Jon Taylor, Councillor, Plymouth City Council

Micky Leng, Councillor, Reading Borough Council

Laurie Burton, Councillor, Southend-On-Sea Borough Council

James Pritchard, Councillor, Caerphilly County Borough Council

George Davies, Councillor, Wigan Borough Council

Stephen Dawber, Councillor, Wigan Borough Council

Tom Copley, London Assembly Member

Abby Tomlinson, Labour Party Activist

Abdi Duale, Labour Party Activist

Jamie Ali, Labour Party Activist

Luke Hurst, Labour Party Activist

Ben McGowan, Labour Party Activist

Adam Allnutt, Labour Party Activist

James Potts, Labour Party Activist

Zainab Asunramu, Labour Party Activist

Gabe Milne, Labour Party Activist

Alex Holmes, Labour Party Activist

Steve Lapsley, Labour Party Activist

Luke Heselwood, Labour Party Activist

Luisa Attfield, Labour Party Activist

Callum McNally, Activist and former PPC

Seam Smyth, Labour Party Activist

Milly Whibberley, Labour Party Activist

George William Fairhurst, Labour Party Activist

Wrenna Robson, Labour Party Activist

Jenny Symmons, Labour Party Activist

Beth Desmond, Labour Party Activist

Joshua Harris, Labour Party Activist

Aidan Stitt, Labour Party Activist

Sarisha Goodman, Labour Party Activist

Pete Whitehead, Labour Party Activist

Ross McArthur, Labour Party Activist

Lisa Phillips, Labour Party Activist