LONDON (Labour Buzz) - Can you hear that? It’s the sound of, what a particularly unimaginative journalist might decide to call, the ‘Nandwagon’. Lisa Nandy has had a good couple of weeks as a flurry of nominations have propelled her through to the final stage, therefore she will appear on the ballot. Enthusiasm is building and the candidate who, for so long, seemed to be the outsider now has a serious chance. Here’s why that might be great news for the Labour Party.

Who or what is a Nandy?

If you’re not sure who she is, you’re not alone. Back before Christmas Labour Future asked its network who they’d like to see takeover from Jeremy Corbyn. Keir Starmer was top, Rebecca Long Bailey, Angela Raynor and Jess Phillips featured strongly, but Lisa Nandy was way back with just 4%.

Things didn’t look much better in YouGov’s poll which placed her in seventh place behind people who didn’t even intend to run such as Yvette Cooper and right in line for elimination in the first round. She lacks the name recognition of Starmer, and the star power of Thornberry; she is unlikely to turn up on Have I Got News For You any time soon.

Even so, the more people hear about her the more they seem to like.

First came a series of quote worthy interviews. She stopped Andrew Neil in full bluster in an extremely polished performance, before putting Piers Morgan firmly back in his box on GMTV.

Where politicians can often seem shifty or uncertain as they try to remember the lines they are supposed to say, she spoke plainly, honestly and convincingly. It’s an approach which inspires the kind of trust and confidence many people will feel is lacking from politics today.

The candidate of ideas

Then came the policies and there are lots of those. As Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Nandy was instrumental in assembling the building blocks for the Green New Deal, work which Rebecca Long Bailey continued brilliantly in the manifesto.

Nandy also vowed to use the buying power of government procurement to support British companies, including a pledge to use British Steel in all government contracts. She has also talked about raising corporation tax to at least the basic rate of income tax and reversing cuts to welfare.

Lisa Nandy has even defended the record of Jeremy Corbyn, something we might not have expected to see at the beginning of the campaign. In 2015 he was the candidate of ideas against rivals who couldn’t find an idea between them. Fast-forwarded to 2019, could Nandy be heading for the same role?

Her campaign has been full of ideas while Sir Keir Starmer has been peculiarly silent, relying on his position as front runner and unifier; the one most likely to appeal to all sides.

Enthusiasm quickly began to build on Twitter and nominations followed. With grim predictability the hashtag #nandwagon was soon trending.

Of all the candidates Nandy seems to be the one capable of reaching out beyond her base and persuading wavering voters, something which could prove to be crucial with the wider electorate, however it remains to be seen if this will hamper her chances of winning over the Labour membership.

Something different

Nandy’s appeal seems to be growing due to her campaigning competency and because she offers something different and even unique. Born and bred in Manchester with Indian heritage, (her father is Dipak Nandy an academic and Marxist from India) she is not the typical person you’d expect to see in Westminster and may appeal to voters who Labour has previously been unable to reach or recently lost to the Tories.

She’d be the first woman to be Labour leader and the first mixed race leader of any major political party in the UK. While that in itself shouldn’t be a reason to vote for someone, the Labour Party has been operating for 120 years. Surely, it’s not asking too much to suggest that for the first time ever someone who isn’t white, male and middle aged could lead the party. If Dr Who can manage it, so can Labour.

Rebuilding the red wall

That said, it’s hard to overstate the challenge that awaits. Labour is in retreat almost everywhere: in Scotland, in their Northern heartlands and in the cities. Labour need a leader who can bring back the voters they lost, attract new ones and persuade the supporters of other parties to defect.

Nandy has positioned herself as the person best placed to rebuild trust with Labour’s traditional voters in the North. Doing that is about much more than just being from Manchester. She has been a passionate advocate of local issues throughout her career.

More than anyone else, she seems to understand the struggles towns are facing. Stand near her for any length of time and she’ll talk your ear off about the need to rebuild highstreets and restore prosperity to areas which have been left behind.

These are the towns in the North, South, East and West who struggle in an age in which growth is focused entirely around cities. They feel alienated by politics and Labour in particular, which they feel has become dominated by the metropolitan middle classes.

Nandy’s championing of the Highstreet may not be exciting for newspaper editors, but it is much more likely to appeal to people in those former Labour heartlands. Those voters are about to find out what a mistake it was to run into the clutches of Boris Johnson. Already he’s started channelling money away from northern constituencies and into the already well-off home counties.

This is why Nandy looks stronger the more people see and hear her. She hails from Manchester rather than Chelsea, she appeals to remainers and leavers, champions localism and communities, and stands up for the rights of ordinary, hardworking people. She’s plain spoken, honest, intelligent and doesn’t have to fake her working-class credentials. Against a government which is inept, deceitful and infested with Etonian privilege, she’ll look very good indeed.

(Written by Tom Cropper, edited by Michael O'Sullivan)

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