Jon Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister without Portfolio, responding to news Andrea Leadsom has withdrawn from the Tory leadership race, said:

“It now looks like we’ll see a coronation of Theresa May, rather than a proper Tory leadership contest. I congratulate the Home Secretary on her success in this race but ultimately the issue is not whether she can deliver for the Conservative Party but what her offer is as Prime Minister and whether it delivers for ordinary working people.

“People want a Government that puts them first and a leader who can deliver for them. That will be difficult for Theresa May given her record of failure and the wrong choices: cuts to police funding, the loss of 18,000 police officers and overseeing chaos in the Passport Office.

“Theresa May has today set out a detailed critique of the failures of the Tory Government, but there was absolutely no recognition of the fact she has been at the heart of this failing government for the last six years.

“We of course welcome her apparent conversion to the active industrial agenda we outlined at the last general election particularity when she says she now wants to build an economy that works “not for a privileged few” . But let’s be under no illusions. Theresa May has been part of a government that has cut taxes for millionaires while putting up VAT, and has failed to reform the fundamental weaknesses in our economy including cracking down properly on tax avoidance.

“People will judge her on her actions, not her words. The truth is Theresa May will offer nothing new for working people – just more of the same failed policies.”

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