Frontrunner says Labour must modernise and work out why so many former supporters voted Ukip in last election

The Labour party is a 20th-century organisation trying to solve 21st-century problems, one of the party’s deputy leadership candidates, Tom Watson, has said.

Launching his campaign in Dagenham, London, on Friday, the MP for West Bromwich East said he sometimes felt like Labour was “trying to overhaul an Apple MacBook with a spanner. That needs to change.”

Watson made it on to the shortlist for the deputy leadership on Wednesday with 59 nominations, more than any of the other four candidates, and is the bookies’ favourite to win.

He told an audience of Labour supporters at the Trades Hall Club that it would be the new leader’s job to set out a vision for the party and for the country, and the deputy’s job to help them realise it.

The Guardian view on party deputy leaders: a job about nothing | Editorial Read more

“Once the leader has set the course, the deputy’s job will be to get us there in one piece,” said Watson. “If the leader’s on the bridge, I’ll be in the engine room. My job above all else will be to make sure the party’s ready to win in 2020. And don’t listen to anybody who says it can’t be done.”

Watson said that 32 of the 50 seats where Ukip had made its biggest gains were Labour-held. “Of course we need to win back Labour supporters who voted Tory in May,” he said. “But if we are to win we also have to understand why so many Labour supporters voted Ukip.”

He said Labour needed to look like the country it wants to serve. “And yes, that does mean more working-class candidates. I’m fed up of not being able to say that.”



Watson said he planned to establish a bursary scheme for parliamentary candidates who do not have the financial means to run for parliament. “It is the fair thing to do, and if Labour won’t do that, who will?” he said.



“Like Atlee did, we must articulate a fusion of national and individual aspiration, convincing people that paying into the state brings back high-quality public services and a better life for them and their families.”

On Wednesday, Rushanara Ali, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, dropped out of the deputy leadership race at the eleventh hour, allowing her supporters to give their nominations to other candidates who were struggling to get the 35 required to get on the ballot.

Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle and Ben Bradshaw all made it on to the ballot as a result, having been on 31, 28 and 25 nominations respectively beforehand. Caroline Flint qualified comfortably with 41.

The last-minute dash for nominations was similar to that seen in the leadership race on Monday. Jeremy Corbyn, a prominent figure on the left of the party, made it on to the ballot with minutes to spare after MPs who do not intend to give him their vote nominated him in order to ensure a wider debate. The frontrunner Andy Burnham received 68 nominations, Yvette Cooper 59, Liz Kendall 41 and Corbyn 36.

Ballot papers for both the leader and deputy leader votes will be dispatched on 14 August, voting closes on 10 September and the results of both races will be announced on 12 September at a special conference.