Black MP in Labour leader race

May 21, 2010 |

Reuters

London

Britain’s first black woman member of Parliament joined the race to lead Britain’s Opposition Labour Party on Thursday after an election in May ended its 13-year grip on power.

Diane Abbott said it was time to broaden out a contest which critics say has so far focused on white men in their 40s. “I am going to run. So many people in the past 48 hours have asked me to put my hat in the ring and I have finally agreed to do so ... I think we can’t go forward with a leadership where there are no women,” Ms Abbott told BBC radio.
Former health minister Andy Burnham also said he would stand, bringing the number of contenders to six. The centre-left Labour Party is searching for a new leader to succeed former PM Gordon Brown, who resigned in May. A Conservative-Liberal Democrat alliance now governs Bri-tain, the first coalition since World War II. —Reuters

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