Huddersfield’s veteran MP Barry Sheerman claims if David Miliband had been elected party leader, the country would have a Labour Prime Minister today.
And he predicted the next Labour leader would be “someone we don’t expect, the result of some radical thinking.”
Mr Sheerman, who has held Huddersfield for Labour since 1979, said: “I have been loyal to Ed Miliband, but I am saying it now. I have always believed it and I know it to be true.”
On the raft of resignations and high-profile defeats he said: “This is a day of change in British politics.
“We must now get back to Westminster, back to work and organise for a new leader. And we must do this with tremendous rigour.”
Mr Sheerman said Labour’s set format for choosing a new leader was ‘a bit cumbersome’ and that deputy leader Harriet Harman would be in charge pro-temps.
See pictures from last night's election count in Huddersfield below.
“It’s no secret I was in the David Miliband camp in the leadership election five years ago and if had been leader we would have a Labour Prime Minister today,” he said. “Now we need a fresh start. We have a group of talented people and we are lucky in that respect.
“We have to move forward. Let’s do it.”
Mr Sheerman felt Ed Miliband had done ‘the right and honourable’ thing in resigning.
“He has had his chance and it didn’t work,” he said. “But it’s behind us now. Let’s bury the hatchet.”
He thinks the Lib Dems were decimated because of their decision to go into coalition.
“It just hasn’t worked out,” he said. “I had a lot of time for a number of ministers, notably Vince Cable. I thought he was a very good business secretary and I am sad to see him go.”
On Nigel Farage’s decision to step down as UKIP leader, Mr Sheerman said: “He gambled and lost. UKIP was always a one-man party and is now rudderless.”
For the future, Mr Sheerman said: “I see defeat as an opportunity to get Labour back in touch with the values we came in with and we now have to reconnect with people.”
