Gordon Brown's acceptance speech

Earlier today I was invited along to Gordon Brown's acceptance speech as Labour Party leader elect at Bloomberg in the City. The speech was a graceful acceptance of being elected unopposed(the first time this has happened in decades), but also clear statement towards what he sees as the future direction of the Labour Party.

In choosing Gordon Brown, it's clear that the party was pretty unified in nominating him and that's been shown in the wide cross-section of MP's from all parts of the country. From the nominations, it's clear that John McDonnell had little support within the Parliamentary Labour Party and that needs to be a pre-requisite for any candidate who seeks to be leader of the party. I've no doubt that Gordon will be an excellent Prime Minister and he's rightfully recognised that the next six weeks are an ideal opportunity to engage the public, but also set a vision for the way ahead.

In terms of the Deputy Leader, Hilary Benn was nominated as predicted on this blog. This contest will certainly be very interesting and from all accounts Hazel Blears was the top performer at the hustings last night and I was told this by people who are supporting rival candidates.