Should the deputy leader of the Labour Party automatically be deputy prime minister?
CONOR J MURPHY, London No. That’s for the Leader of the Labour Party, as Prime Minister, to decide. Would you like to see a contest for the leadership of the Labour Party when Blair goes? MIKE HARRIS, Brighton That’s up to Labour MPs to decide. Anyone with 45 nominations can stand. I’ll be supporting Gordon Brown. Is the office of deputy leader in any way a useful one: wasn’t it just invented as a sop to satisfy long forgotten, ambitious politicians like George Brown and Herbert Morrison? V PRYDE, Cambridge The job does matter, above all to ensure that the views of party members get heard. Did your father encourage you to throw your hat in the ring for the deputy leadership? DAVID BOOKER, Harrogate Yes. He’s always encouraged me, and he’s given me his 1981 “Benn for Deputy” badges for good luck. Wouldn’t everyone be better off if Tony Blair quit now? BRUCE TOBIAS, Hampstead No. Your father gave up a title and fought for the rights of the working man. You are fighting for a criminal, di
