Yvette Cooper confirms Labour leadership bid
Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced a bid to become party leader.
She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Writing in the Mirror to announce her candidacy, she said she thought Labour needed to “make life better for families”.
Ms Cooper said she thought Labour had failed at last week’s general election to convince the electorate that it “had the answers”.
She wrote: “Labour needs to be bigger in our appeal, bolder in our ambitions and brighter about the future. Going back to the remedies of the past, of Gordon Brown or Tony Blair, won’t keep up with the way the world has changed.”
The leadership race comes after Ed Miliband stepped down as Labour leader last week after the Tories gained a majority.
The Labour party is being run currently by Deputy Leader Harriet Harman, who has also stepped down on appointment of her replacement.
Ms Cooper joins Chuka Umunna, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall in the race. Out shadow Commons leader Angela Eagle also thought to be exploring running.
Yvette Cooper was named the Politician of the Year at the inaugural PinkNews Awards in October 2013, alongside Baroness Stowell of Beeston.
Speaking at the PinkNews Debate earlier this year, Ms Cooper gave an impassioned plea for all parties to back compulsory, inclusive Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) for all schools.
She also pledged to consider introducing ‘Gender X’ passports – for people who aren’t male or female.
Writing for PinkNews last year, Ms Cooper celebrated the introduction of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, and the first weddings which took place on 29 March 2014.
