My view is that you still in order to win from the Labour perspective have to have a strong alliance with business as well as the unions. You have got to be very much in the centre ground on things like public sector reform.

There are people in the public sector with a range of experiences that have no equivalent in business but are essential to governing like keeping a kid in school or helping someone get and hold a job. The value of those skills can't easily be measured against a bottom line.

When I first left university I thought about going into the private sector. But I discovered when I went to interview that I could only have a career in the back office or doing HR. The attitude was 'My dear lady you cannot possibly think about going on the board.'