Harriet Harman: Ban men from running for next Labour leader

Labour grandee Harriet Harman has said Labour should ban men from running in its next leadership election.

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Speaking to the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harman said she wishes the new Labour leader and prime minister, Andy Burnham, "all the success he can possibly have on behalf of this country and the Labour Party".

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But, she said there should be an all-woman shortlist next time the party's leadership comes up for election.

"We've got to have a woman next time," the former deputy Labour leader said.

"And I've worked out that the only way we'll have a woman leader of the Labour Party next time, is if we start a conversation now where we say that, actually, men cannot stand for the leadership next time."

She said Labour needed to "start the discussion about male ambition and male allyship", and that "male ambition should not be to lead themselves, male ambition ought to be to support a woman to lead".

Labour has had two female interim leaders - Margaret Beckett and Baroness Harman herself - but never a full-time female leader. The party has had four female deputy leaders, including the incumbent, Lucy Powell.

Baroness Harman said she'll "be wanting to encourage and support" any young rising stars in the Labour Party who are male.

"But I'll be saying to them, 'Are you going to support a woman next time or are you gonna put yourself in front and put a woman behind you?'

"Because for every man who stands for leader and gets to be a leader, he has pushed a woman... into second place behind him," she said.

Burnham, who became Labour leader on 17 July, stood unopposed for the role.

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