David Miliband has won the grassroots support of Labour’s leaders in local government with over 100 Council and Labour Group leaders in England and Wales backing his campaign.

111 Labour Council and Labour Group leaders, including the leaders in Birmingham, Newcastle, Bradford and Leicester and Neath City Councils, have backed David Miliband’s Campaign.

His campaign has also secured the backing of the leaders of Labour groups in towns and cities such as Norwich, Bolton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Peterborough, Scarborough, Sunderland, Telford and Wolverhampton. In London 18 out of 29 Labour Council or group leaders have also backed David.

Signing up to the campaign today are heavyweight figures such as the former Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), Jeremy Beecham, along with the current Chair, and Deputy Leaders of the LGA Labour Group – Bryony Rudkin, Steve Reed and Sharon Taylor.

A letter of support is published today on David’s campaign website and signed by all 102 local backers, stating:

“David Miliband is the right person for the job of Labour leader. He is the right person to win for Labour locally and nationally.

“Councils are bearing the brunt of the Government’s ideological drive to shrink the state. David knows Labour councillors are the first line of defence against the Tory Liberal coalition, protecting our people at a local level and fighting for the services they rely on.”

Responding to the letter, David Miliband said:

“I am proud and honoured to receive the support of so many of Labour’s leaders in local government and grassroots activists. These are the people at the frontline of Labour’s fight against the Tory Liberal coalition. These are the people we need to engage to rebuild and renew our party if we are to win back power.”

Labour Council Leaders and Labour Group Leaders supporting the David Miliband Campaign:

Full text of the endorsement letter:

David Miliband is the right person for the job of Labour Leader. David understands Labour in local government. He is the right person to win for Labour locally and nationally.

As the Local Government Minister, he was passionate about strengthening local government and empowering local communities. As the leader of our party, he would include Labour’s leader in local government in the shadow cabinet.

This is a huge step in making sure the relationships between Labour MPs, Labour councillors and the communities they represent are strong.
 
David knows Labour councillors are the first line of defence against the Tory Liberal coalition, protecting our people at a local level and fighting for the services they rely on. A fifth of the cuts announced by the Government before the emergency budget will hit local authorities.

The comprehensive spending review in the Autumn looks set to take a further 25% out of local budgets. Councils are bearing the brunt of the Government’s ideological drive to shrink the state.

As well as being the bedrock of an effective opposition, David has made clear that he sees Labour councillors as also being innovators for the next manifesto developing and implementing the practical, worked-through policies that will take Labour back to Government.
 
And most of all, David has the necessary values and vision to win the next election for the Labour Party.
 
David can win for Labour and win for the country.

Notes for editors

Recent polls have shown that David Miliband is the public’s choice for next Labour leader.  He is significantly ahead with all voters on 17% compared to his next rival, Diane Abbott on 10%.  He has a clear lead amongst all social classes, genders, regions and age groups. Critically, he is also significantly ahead of his rivals among Labour Party voters with 27% of the vote compared to the next most popular, Ed Balls, on 13% (Source: Sunday Times: YouGov).  A poll released this week also showed that he is the person that business leaders – some 51% of them – think would best be able to take on the coalition (Source: Comres).

He is also the Party’s choice for next Labour leader and has picked up significant support in all areas of the Labour Party. He has the most support among the MPs and MEPs – 81 MPs nominated him and 6 MEPs have nominated him. Critically he has received more grassroots support than any other candidate with 145 CLP nominations (as of 15:00 Friday). In addition 2 trade unions, Community and USDAW have endorsed him as leader.

He has raised more money overall for his campaign than any other candidate.  These donations have not only been from big donors but also from lots of smaller donations as well.  He has raised £26,000 from donations of between £1 to £1499.

His website has received 82k unique visitors to site and 134k separate visits.  He has posted 42 YouTube videos, 33 Audioboos. On Facebook he has 6,577 friends and supporters, 29,000 followers on Twitter with 745 ‘Twibbons’ of support.

Over the campaign David has committed to training 1000 community organisers for the Labour Party. So far over 500 have already been trained in community organising techniques and 650 people have signed up for training.