Richard Burgon has confirmed he plans to stand for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party.
The Shadow Justice Secretary has been privately discussing a potential tilt at the second-to-to top job.
But he confirmed his plans in a tweet today.
He wrote: “After a break and discussions with MPs and party members, I’m announcing that I’m standing to be Labour’s Deputy Leader.”
He included a link to an article he wrote outlining “some thoughts on why we lost badly and how we rebuild.”
In the article, published in left wing magazine Tribune, Mr Burgon sought to deflect blame away from Jeremy Corbyn for Labour’s disastrous election result.
Mr Burgon wrote: “This is the fourth leader I’ve campaigned for and each time… the leader always came up.
“We can’t allow blame for this election to fall on Jeremy’s shoulders alone, just as we all accepted the praise when, in 2017, we secured the highest increase in our vote since the Second World War.”
He argued “nobody had campaigned with greater energy, resilience and principle than Jeremy” and it would be “mistaken to focus blame there”.
And he warned against the return of a centre-left agenda, arguing “nostalgia has no role to play” in making the party successful again.
In his tweet, Mr Burgon said: “I’ll be outlining more in the New Year.”
Other declared candidates for the deputy leadership include Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Dawn Butler and Shadow Europe Minister Khalid Mahmood.
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner is also said to be considering a run.
