THE race to be leader of the Labour Party is heating up. I’ve already made my decision. I am supporting Yvette Cooper.

She’s passionate, experienced, incredibly competent and has a true commitment to equality. Yvette served in the Cabinet from 2007 - 2010, and after the 2010 general election, in the shadow cabinet.

The Tories wrongly blamed Labour for the 2008 international financial crash and since then have used the deficit as an excuse to introduce brutal cuts. It’s important that the next Labour leader has the economic competence to dispel myths about Labour and to fix the economy.

Yvette is the only economist amongst the candidates, holding a 1st in PPE from Oxford and an MSc in Economics. She was the first female chief secretary to the Treasury.

A feature of the last parliament was the fierce clashes between Yvette Cooper and Theresa May, two strong women, and both possible leaders of their parties. Divisions in the party have damaged Labour internally and its reputation externally. Yvette can unite the party under a common cause and show it has moved on. Labour needs a woman leader and she is the candidate who can ensure Labour gets into government again in 2020.

Yvette has always fought for women’s rights. This is important because women have suffered most under Tory cuts. David Cameron has an acknowledged problem with women. What better way to compound that problem than by forcing him to face weekly forensic examinations by Yvette Cooper at Prime Minister’s Questions?

  • Clare Calder is a former UK Youth Parliament member for Brighton and Hove, a former council candidate for St Peter’s and North Laine and a recent graduate in BA Politics and Parliamentary Studies from the University of Leeds