Labour Party Deputy Leadership

Even before its merger with the Transport & General Workers' Union (T&G), Amicus was the largest union affiliated to the Labour Party.

I am a long-standing member of the union and a member of its National Political Committee. As one of my duties for this body, I spent yesterday morning listening to and questioning all six candidates for the deputy leadership as they presented themselves in the hope of winning our official endorsement.

All six of the candidates offer their own individual strengths to the new leadership team and it is clear that the race is wide open to succeed John Prescott. Indeed, at last night's Putney dinner all six candidates had members there who had decided to give them their support. Whoever gets the job we're going to have a formidable team leading us.