Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair has called for a “fundamental reconstruction” of the Labour Party as three hopefuls vie to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as its leader.
Speaking at a King’s College London event marking Labour's 120th anniversary, Blair said that the party was facing a “make-or-break” moment and that “head-to-toe renewal” was required.
Blair said: "When you really look objectively at our position, fundamental reconstruction is what you need.
"Now, I don't think you can tell whether any of the leadership people, or the people likely to win, are going to do that or not right now.”
The three remaining candidates in the Labour leadership race include Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lisa Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer. The wider party membership can begin voting for their favoured candidate from next week, with the result set to be announced on April 4.
Blair said that he would not openly endorse any of the trio, since he did not want to “damage anyone by supporting them”, acknowledging that his views were perhaps “not particularly welcome to today’s [Labour] party”.
Looking back on December’s general election, Labour’s fourth successive defeat at the polls, Blair suggested that a “more moderate” leader may have fared better but added that wider change was needed in the long-term.
The former prime minister said that Labour should look to “redefine” the meaning of radical change and build a “whole new progressive alliance”.
Blair also criticised what he called a "bizarre" party policy on Brexit ahead of December's national poll, but urged the next party leader not to change stance and instead campaign to rejoin the European Union in future general elections.
