Labour gays voted Cruddas for deputy
A breakdown of the votes cast by the members of the Labour Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (LGBT Labour) has revealed that backbench candidate Jon Cruddas was their choice for Deputy Leader.
Justice Minister Harriet Harman won the contest to succeed John Prescott on Sunday, after five rounds of voting.
She eventually took the lead with 50.43% to Education Secretary Alan Johnson’s 49.56%
LGBT Labour is an affiliated society of the Labour party, meaning its members can vote along with members of trade unions and other societies. Their votes count for a third of the total.
MPs and MEPs and members of constituency Labour parties make up the other two thirds of the electoral college.
The turnout amongst LGBT Labour members was 59.6%. The first preference votes cast were as follows:
Jon Cruddas 22.2% (came third)
Harriet Harman 18.8% (won)
Hazel Blears 17.9% (came sixth)
Alan Johnson 15.3% (came second)
Hilary Benn 14.5% (came fourth)
Peter Hain 11.1% (came fifth)
It was the transfer of Jon Cruddas’s second preferences in the last round that secured final victory for her and LGBT Labour voters, who placed Jon Cruddas first, will have been a key part of those transferred votes and her eventual win.
Alon Or-Bach, co-chair of LGBT Labour, told PinkNews.co.uk:
“Harriet Harman came second amongst LGBT Labour voters which shows strong support from the LGBT community in this, a close fought, six-way race.
“This is a strong starting place for us to work with the new deputy leader in working on equality issues.”
Gordon Brown was declared Leader of the Labour party at the special election conference in Manchester on Sunday.
Tony Blair remains Prime Minister until tomorrow.
He will give a farewell performance at Prime Minister’s Questions before going to see the Queen and resign.
Gordon Brown will then be asked by the Queen to form a government. Details of Mr Brown’s first Cabinet will be revealed throughout Thursday.
Ms Harman’s victory was a surprise result – Education Secretary Alan Johnson was tipped to win.
It is reported that Gordon Brown will not be appointing her Deputy Prime Minister.
