Chuka pulls out of leadership race!

I guess with any meteoric rise there’s always the potential for a spectacular fall. And so it is with less than a week gone by since Labour's brightest star, Chuka Umunna announced he would run for the leadership of the Labour party, he has just announced he’s withdrawing from the contest. He stated in his resignation letter that:

I apologise to all those who have kindly supported and encouraged me to do this and for disappointing them. I know this will come as a surprise to many but I had always wondered whether it was all too soon for me to launch this leadership bid - I fear it was. I thought I understood the scrutiny and attention a leadership contest would bring."

The way something like this works is that a Saturday or Sunday Newspaper has a story that would deeply embarrass the individual, and a day or two before they go to print, they call the individual up to ask them for a comment. At that juncture the individual often knows whether or not they can brazen the story out, or drop out of any contest or post, to lessen the damage. Chuka has chosen to bow out now.

Right now I feel for this young man. His world has just come crashing down on him from a very great height. But I’m extremely cross with him too, and the people around him who advise him on these matters.

These days you don’t have to be a political guru to understand the rules of engagement. All you have to do is watch Kevin Spacy’s ‘House of Cards’. There the real power men tell the would-be candidate, ‘We need to know everything about you. And I mean everything.’

Thereafter, they decide whether or not it’s appropriate for them to stand, and if so how they manage the elements that might cause trouble. But, whatever happens, there are no surprises.

Truth is Chuka has not just let himself and his family down, he has let down a generation of Black people who wanted to support him to become a future Prime Minister. If we are to condemn Nigel Farage for lacking the integrity for going back on his word, we must be bitterly disappointed and angry that our great expectation has been dashed in less than a week.

The saving grace about Chuka Umunna is that he has youth on his side. This painfully, possibly dark episode will only make him stronger, and us too.

We’re cross with you Chuka, but you’re family, and we don’t abandon family members.

Simon Woolley