Jon Cruddas is in the course of giving an interesting interview with Simon Mayo on Radio 5 and has confirmed that he does intend to contest the deputy leadership when there is a vacancy.
He plans a campaign that will “change the Labour Party” as well as for the deputy leadership itself, which he believes should be a full-time job in its own right.
Update: Speaking to Simon Mayo, Jon said: “I am standing to be deputy leader because change is desperately needed … it’s time to rebuild our party from the bottom up.”
Speaking about the need to restate Labour’s values, he added: “We need to reaffirm our belief in collective action – through local communities, through public services, through strong and effective trade unions.”
On the deputy leadership, he concluded: “In the election, there will be a choice: change or more of the same.”
Further update: The story is now on the BBC, ePolitix, Guardian, Reuters, East Anglian Daily Times and Politics.co.uk.
The Daily 
He has strong arguments and the right attitude. I’d vote for him – if I were allowed!
This is fantastic news – Cruddas has the right ideas and is a thoroughly credible candidate. You not an affiliated union member, Dave?
I caught an interview with him on Sky. I was reasonably impressed with his ideas and he’s a good communicator.
The contrast between Cruddas and the other’s has never be so clear. Harriet Harman’s husband Jack Dromey praised the value of immigration at Labour’s Diversity fringe in Manchester. So far so good. Except in making his point he said that it was necessary because we could not rely on “white trash” to do the least attractive jobs. His ‘joke’ was met with stunned silence.
It is this demonisation of the white working class that is fuelling the rise of the far right. The Harmans, Dromeys and Hodges of New Labour have shown little but distate for working people. Jon Cruddas has been at the forefront of fighting the BNP, but he has done this with a clear eye on some of the causes of alienation. Only Cruddas is looking at the root causes of the rise of the far right and has been talking this week about the importance of reaching back to our working class communities.
This is no longer about who would make the best Deputy Leader, but about whether the party continues a process of gentrification and alienates the people that need us most.
There’s a debate over at LabourHome for those interested:
http://www.labourhome.org/story/2006/9/27/154441/601#2
Ladbrokes have become the second bookmakers (along with William Hills) to release odds for the forthcoming Deputy Leadership election. Top 5 contenders:
Johnson is 2/1 favourite
Hain 7/2
Straw 5/1
Harman 8/1
Cruddas 8/1
Compared with the Hills odds, the two big differences are the prices for Benn and Cruddas. Both tap into soft left trade unionism in Labour. Whereas Hills have Benn at 4s and Cruddas at 25s, Ladbrokes make Cruddas favourite between these two men at 8s and 10s respectively.
If Benn does not stand (and I am increasingly certain he won’t – Cruddas is gobbling up crucial trade union support he would have hoped to attract), the Member for Dagenham has to be the one to watch.
Hills are only taking bets of Cruddas over the phone (prior to additional authorisation). You can get 25s by calling them on 0800 148 149. It surely will not last long.
Excelent news. I saw Cruddas at a fringe event and was very impressed with the way he has clearly seen the problems facing the party. I think he understands Labour’s real core vote in a way that few others do.
i like him.
i’ve not joined the labour party because nobody at the top seemed to recognise/acknowledge the problems at the bottom.
Jon seems to, i disagree with many of his policys and commons votes -but his views on the party and its methods are spot on/
my vote would go to him
W
[…] John Prescott apologised for his behaviour over the past year (the affairs, the American tycoons, the cow boy hats) and announced that yes he would be standing down from the deputy leadership when Blair stands down from the leadership. Which is quite fortunate as little known backbencher Jon Cruddas announced he was running for the deputy leadership and was immediately tipped by the Guardian as one to watch. Declared deputy candidate Pete Hain continued to be very orange (his fake tan alone was enough to make housemate Steve shudder), he also used to be in the Liberal party. Hints abound that Leader of the Commons, and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will stand for the deputy, he pointed out what the rest of us already knew this morning, that the situation in Iraq is dire. Hillary Benn, the International Development Secretary, has been accused of provoking a row with the World Bank in order to further his deputy ambitions, although he has shown little to no sign of this being the case. Harriet Harman remains the only declared female candidate in any race. […]