We all stood for the Labour Party in the 2015 General Election in constituencies right across the country. We stood because we believe the Labour Party should be fighting for those in our communities who have been hit by ideological spending cuts, those who are relying on foodbanks and payday lenders, those who are losing hope of a better future for themselves and their children.

None of us were successful in being elected on May 7th, and now our communities face the prospect of five years of the Tories dismantling the welfare state and condemning hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.

Labour did not lose because our manifesto was ‘too left-wing’. While there were many progressive measures in the manifesto, we failed to challenge the fundamental economic consensus on austerity. This cost all of us votes in our constituencies and played a part in the catastrophic result we suffered in Scotland.

In the leadership election currently facing the Labour Party we have a choice. We have a chance to once again become a social movement. The kind of movement which built the NHS, which built the welfare state, which built an economy that works for millions not just millionaires, which originally built the Labour Party.

We believe that Jeremy Corbyn is the only candidate offering this vision. The only candidate with the principles, and policies, who can win back the millions of voters Labour lost between 1997 and 2010 and the only candidate which offers hope for the millions of people suffering at the hands of this pernicious Tory government.

This is why we are backing Jeremy Corbyn to be the next leader of the Labour Party.

Signed

Russell Whiting, Suffolk Coastal
Ian Davidson, Glasgow South West
Chris Williamson, Derby North
George Aylett, South West Wiltshire
Jane Basham, South Suffolk
Todd Foreman, North East Somerset
Lesley Brennan, Dundee East
Andy Croy, Wokingham
Joe Riches, York Outer
Chris York, North East Hertfordshire
Andrew Botham, Derbyshire Dales
Ruth Jones, Monmouth
JoAnne Rust, North West Norfolk
Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Lewes
Solomon Curtis, Wealden
Sam Hale, Stone
Sachin Patel, Richmond Park
Laween Atroshi, Surrey Heath
Peter Smith, South West Norfolk
Cheryl Pidgeon, South Derbyshire
Dr James Moore, Rutland and Melton
Archie Dryburgh, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Chaz Singh, South West Devon
Huw Jones, South East Cambridgeshire
Michael Connarty, Linlithgow and East Falkirk
Scott Nicholson, Perth and North Perthshire
Declan Lloyd, South East Cornwall