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Category: Ed Miliband

How long can the Johnson-EdM stand-off go on?

How long can the Johnson-EdM stand-off go on?

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At some stage, surely, one of them has to give? The Speccie’s James Forsyth has picked up on another airing in public of a policy disagreement with his boss by the shadow chancellor, Alan Johnson. The issue the latter’s continuing opposition to a graduate tax is reiterated again today in an interview with the Telegraph. Clearly this is the issue of the moment and when Johnson tells the paper that ” .frankly, there’s a difference of view..I feel it’s going…

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Is it Labour’s ratings that will keep EdM afloat?

Is it Labour’s ratings that will keep EdM afloat?

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How serious is it for the party’s new leader? The eighteen or so hours since the end of PMQs yesterday the big focus at Westminster has been on Labour’s leader of only ten weeks – Ed Miliband. The write-ups in the papers of his performance have been pretty bad and last night there was a longish feature on Newsnight by Michael Crick about EdM’s position. Yet in spite of all this Labour continues to poll well and the latest PAPA…

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Could Yvette replace EdM before the next general election?

Could Yvette replace EdM before the next general election?

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Is there any way that he can get the media on his side? After his media hammering over the past 24 hours I’m beginning to wonder whether Ed Miliband will last the course and be replaced, probably by Yvette Cooper, before the general election. Since yesterday morning there’s been one story after another bringing bad news for the Labour leadership. Even Nick Robinson at the officially impartial BBC got into the act by mocking Ed’s term “the squeezed middle” as…

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Sam asks: Should it be really “Cool hand Ed”?

Sam asks: Should it be really “Cool hand Ed”?

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A guest slot on the Labour leader as he returns to PMQs Much has been made of Ed Miliband’s decision making and lack of media coverage since becoming Leader of the Labour Party. Eyebrows were raised over the roles allocated to Alan Johnson and Phil Woolas; Johnson has made it clear there are differences of opinion on policy within the opposition, while the Woolas court case raised the issue of party unity. All the while Ed has been out of…

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Is it time for Mandelson to retire with dignity?

Is it time for Mandelson to retire with dignity?

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Does him being around make EdM’s challenge that more difficult? Several papers, including the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph, this morning carry reports of an interview for the Total Politics magazine with Peter Mandelson during which he reveals that Labour’s new leader told him to “retire with dignity” – a term he interpreted as “being packed off to the old folk’s home“. In it Mandy pledges to be loyal to Ed Miliband, saying he did not want to…

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Was this the year things didn’t happen as planned?

Was this the year things didn’t happen as planned?

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Are Ed’s problems because he didn’t expect to win? In the next few weeks there’ll be a lot of look-backs on the extraordinary political developments that have marked 2010. A year ago it looked like David Cameron was all set to win an overall majority in the ensuing general election and in the Labour election that would inevitably follow the elder Miliband brother, David, would become Labour leader. Well if the general election and what happened afterwards, the creation of…

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Nick Clegg – “Politician of the Year”

Nick Clegg – “Politician of the Year”

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What do we think of the Spectator’s line-up of awards? We’re coming to that point in the calendar when we also start to look back over the year that was and the first set-piece event took place last night – The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year awards 2010. This was the line-up after an extraordinary and eventful year that simply did not go to plan. Who could have predicted these names on January 1st? Newcomer of the Year: Caroline Lucas…

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Has Tom Harris fallen victim to EdM’s new assertiveness?

Has Tom Harris fallen victim to EdM’s new assertiveness?

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Was it this ad that led to Tom stopping his blog? Just over two weeks ago I published the above spoof ad under the headline “Is discipline breaking down within Labour?” and posing the secondary question as to whether its creator, blogging Labour MP, Tom Harris, might be in trouble. Well EdM is about to return to work and what did we see on Tom’s site last night but an announcement that he’s giving up because in his words “blogging…

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