TMP Online

TMP spent a day with Labour deputy leadership hopeful and TMP contributor, Jon Cruddas MP.  Below is our account of one busy day on the campaign trail with him (pictured left with C4’s June Sarpong) last weekend.

0800: The day begins early, to ensure we arrive in Oxford in good time for Cruddas’ appearance on Sky News which is scheduled for around 11am. The sun is shining and the only backbencher in the deputy leadership race is in remarkably good form, given he went to Cardiff and back the day before, for another of the deputy leadership hustings. The contenders are eight hustings down; there are just two to go.

As we head down the motorway, Cruddas pours over all of the morning’s newspapers and is briefed by the campaign press officer on the latest stories and items which may pop up in the day’s media interviews. Asked to describe which BBC Radio station he personified at an earlier hustings, Cruddas picked Radio 5 Live, so it is rather fitting that it is on in the background as we make our progress (he is also a self confessed “rare groove” and “funk” fan, so perhaps the soundtrack on our return will be a little different!).

0930: We reach Oxford but are unsure of exactly where we are going - we are a car load of Red Brick university alumni, so the spires of Oxford are rather alien to us. Luckily we stumble upon our destination, which happens to be bang in the middle of the City centre.

People are ambling about enjoying the sun; it all seems a million miles away from the raw grit of London. Only the police, special branch officers, helicopter overhead and outside broadcast units give the clue that the Labour leadership and deputy leadership juggernaut is in town.

1000: We check out the venue, which is a rather trendy modern art gallery. Cruddas briefly stops to admire a very large ball of chocolate situated in one of the gallery rooms, before heading to the hustings room. As he smells the chocolate he tells TMP that he has not swum his customary mile a day, which usually helps him fight off “the bulge”. Today he is sharply dressed in a grey suit – a million miles away from the crumpled suit caricature which has been painted of him.

The hustings room is still being put together when we scope it out and Labour Party press officers rush about ensuring the media have clear shots of the stage. Having checked the battle ground, Team Cruddas retire and go in search of a decent fry up!

1100: Back to a street near the hustings venue to prepare for the Sky News interview. Cruddas pauses on the way to chat to some young anti-Trident protesters outside. Peter Tatchell, fresh from his battles with the Russian police, is also there. Cruddas, of course, is the only one of the candidates who has stridently opposed Trident renewal.

The Sky News team set up for the interview, attach a mic to Cruddas and give him the customary earpiece, so he can hear Sky’s political editor, Adam Bolton, who is to interview him live down the line from London.

Just as the interview is about to start, a police helicopter decides to hover directly above us and bunch of children also decide to come out to play in the garden opposite – no matter, the Dagenham MP is unfazed and gets into his stride on school testing, immigration and the rest.

1130: We enter the venue and Cruddas is introduced by one of his supporters, London Young Labour Rep Alon Orbach, to the Chair of Labour Students, Ciarán Ward. Shortly after we arrive, people start clapping – “Big Gordie”, the Prime Minister-to-be, has just entered the building with his entourage and works his way through the throng - he goes on before the deputy leadership candidates.

1200: While Gordon Brown is taken through his paces by the “yoof”, Team Cruddas chills in the café in the basement and mulls over what questions might come up in the deputy leadership hustings. Peter Hain says a brief hello. Harriet Harman comes over for a longer chat with Cruddas and his team.

Cruddas says he did not know Harman that well before the race but has come to know her reasonably well in the process and likes what he has seen. It was Harman that Cruddas said he would vote for if he was not standing himself on Newsnight recently, so have the two done a deal? The answer is firm “no” – Cruddas says he simply gave an instant, honest answer to a straight question, something which has become his hallmark.

1245: Cruddas heads to the “Green Room” where all the other candidates are milling about with their respective teams of aides, advisors and groupies (Cruddas has an entourage of two). Whilst waiting, Cruddas meets Channel 4’s June Sarpong, who will be chairing the hustings.

There is a slightly tense, if not awkward, atmosphere in the Green Room as the deputy leadership Big Beasts get ready to face the crowd. Cruddas who seems quite relaxed shares a few jokes with his team. There are howls of consternation all round when the candidates draw lots for who will speak first and Hilary Benn, once again, comes out top.

1300: The hustings get under way and the candidates are grilled about a range of topics including inequality, student tuition and top up fees (which Cruddas was alone in opposing).

The candidates are asked who they will support in the forthcoming Democratic Presidential race in the U.S: Benn and Johnson dodge the question; Hain and Harman come out for Hilary Clinton; Cruddas comes out strongly for Barack Obama. Cruddas get the longest round of clapping for his 2 minute pitch for the deputy leadership, so much so that the audience have to be cut off to allow Harman to have her say.

1440: At the end of the hustings Cruddas is pursued by the media and does interviews with the Westminster Hour’s Carolyn Quinn and a reporter from BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat. He also has a chat to a few members of the audience who enthusiastically come up to him afterwards.

1500: The hustings over, Team Cruddas heads out into Oxford to do some campaigning with a couple of very grateful local activists, before returning to London. The extent to which Cruddas’ profile has grown in the course of the contest is in evidence when one sees the surprise on residents faces when they find him at their front doors. One of the big issues in the Lib Dem/Green ward we are in is the fortnightly rubbish collections – residents are not happy at all.

1600: Cruddas and the team head back down to London (and we stop for a cheeky burger on the way). Cruddas has further meetings and a big foreign policy speech to the Foreign Press Association the next day, to prepare for – just another day on the road for this deputy leadership contender.

He seems to relish the campaign and meeting members. He has single handedly managed to liven up what could have been a rather dull election campaign and hasput certain issues, particularly housing, firmly back onto the agenda. What does the future hold for him? We all find out next Sunday.