'Milifandom' creator backs Andy Burnham in Labour leadership race

 
Milifandom creator Abby Tomlinson said she is backing Andy Burnham for Labour leadership (Picture: @twcuddleston)
@twcuddleston
Laura Proto31 July 2015

The teenager who created ‘Milifandom’ ahead of this year’s general election has thrown her weight behind Andy Burnham in his campaign for Labour leadership.

Abby Tomlinson, 17, sparked a social media craze after expressing her love for former Labour party leader Ed Miliband.

Her #milifandom cult led other young women to unite in their admiration for Mr Miliband, with many posting pictures of the MP’s features photoshopped onto the bodies of superheroes, Hollywood heartthrobs and boybands.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">It's all happened the other way round! Here's my selfie with Andy before I even decided I was backing him... <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&amp;id=222025&amp;p=http://t.co/LEqAZseJco" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-395041-http://t.co/LEqAZseJco" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/LEqAZseJco</a>— Abby Tomlinson (@twcuddleston) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/twcuddleston/status/627203797539012608" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-395041-https://twitter.com/twcuddleston/status/627203797539012608" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 31, 2015</a>

Miss Tomlinson, who is a member of the Labour party, told Channel 4 News that she was supporting as the next leader of the Labour Party.

She said: "I'm a backer of Andy Burnham. I think it is his time now.

"I do really like Jeremy [Corbyn], I wish him the best. I just don't think he stands the best chance of uniting the party.

"When I attended the Warrington hustings on Saturday, I hadn't been inspired yet by any of the candidates and I thought if I was watching it and hadn't joined the party, none of them would inspire me to do so.

"But watching Andy's fundamental drive to change things inspired me."

After making her announcement on Channel 4 News, Miss Tomlinson was tweeted by Mr Burnham, thanking her for the support for his campaign.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Really proud to have such a great advocate for my campaign in <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/twcuddleston" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-395041-https://twitter.com/twcuddleston" data-vars-event-id="c23">@twcuddleston</a>. Thanks for the support Abby.— Andy Burnham (@andyburnhammp) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/andyburnhammp/status/627200949136826368" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-395041-https://twitter.com/andyburnhammp/status/627200949136826368" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 31, 2015</a>

A recent poll suggested Mr Burnham was the preferred Labour leader among people who voted for the party in the general election, as well as the favourite of the general population, despite indications that he is trailing Mr Corbyn by a large margin among those who actually have a ballot to cast.

Among 1,001 members of the public questioned by market research company Research Now, regardless of political affiliation, Mr Burnham was picked as the best choice for Labour leader by 30% of those who expressed an opinion, ahead of 24% for Mr Corbyn and Yvette Cooper and 21% for Liz Kendall.

When the same question was put to those who backed Labour in May - many of whom will not be registered to vote in the leadership election - Mr Burnham extended his lead on 36% to Mr Corbyn's 28%, with Ms Cooper (20%) and Ms Kendall (16%) trailing.

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