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By Ned Simons - 27th September 2010
Being that intense about politics inevitably squeezes out of you some of the emotion and feelings that drive you in the first place
Hazel Blears MP
Hazel Blears has revealed she will not stand in the shadow cabinet elections, after saying she often felt like "a hamster on a wheel" when in government.
Blears made the comments at the "Week Ahead" event at the Labour Party conference in Manchester hosted by Dods, the publisher of ePolitix.com, Public Affairs News, The House Magazine and Civil Service World.
Responding to a question from Jon Craig of Sky News, the former communities secretary said she wanted to "take a break" for a "couple of years" in order to focus on some other "challenging and interesting" issues.
"I've been in government for the last ten years, other than last year," she said.
"I got in to government virtually straight away and I felt a little bit like a hamster on a wheel.
"I want to have a couple of years where I do some things I'm desperately interested in that rekindles some of my passion and my humanity.
"Being that intense about politics inevitably squeezes out of you some of the emotion and feelings that drive you in the first place.
She added: "I want a bit of breathing space".
But she refused to rule out a return to front line politics, telling the fringe meeting in Manchester: "We'll have to wait and see."
Blears said she would use her knowledge of Whitehall and Parliament to pull the levers of power for the people of the North West who she said would be severely affected by impending spending cuts.
"I want to make sure the North West economy is top of my agenda.
"As an MP, I've got some skills; I've got some knowledge, I know where the levers are.
"I am going to work the system like crazy for the people I care about across the North West."
She also said she was going to tackle David Cameron's version of the 'Big Society'.
It was "outrageous" that Labour had let the Tories take over that territory, she added.
"How dare they," she said. "We were formed 100 years ago from the co-op movement."
She added: "We were formed from self help groups, working class groups of people."
Speaking to ePolitix.com after the event Blears said she had come to the decision in the "last few weeks" and was clear it had nothing to do with the outcome of the leadership election.
Blears voted for Andy Burnham in first place on the ballot, followed by David Miliband, then Ed Balls. She placed eventual winner Ed Miliband in fourth. She did not use her fifth preference vote.
The former communities secretary said she plans to set up a group to challenge the coalition's concept of the 'Big Society' which while having some of the "right ideas" needed to be scrutinised.
And she said she was also keen to use her time away from the front bench to widen access to parliamentary internships.
As a member of the Usdaw union she said she wanted to see the "woman behind the counter in Tesco" who was interested in politics be able to afford get a job working for an MP.
Blears famously resigned from Gordon Brown's cabinet in June 2009 in what many saw as an attempt to force him from Downing Street.
The result of the shadow cabinet elections will be announced on October 7.
Article Comments
She often felt like a hamster, well actually she looked like one as well.
Makes me feel happy to know that somebody like this can get into politics, then the door is not closed on people with poor education, because this good lady has kept my faith alive that you can be basically an idiot and still get to the top.
Robert
28th Sep 2010 at 9:11 am
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