Do the parties need to review their eligibility criteria?  Two things stand out from a quick glance at the odds for the next PM. The first is that Ed Miliband (8/11, Ladbrokes), is rated about ten times more likely to be next to get the job than anyone else. That’s not too surprising: he’s secure in his own position, Labour has had a steady lead in the polls for most of the parliament now and a built-in advantage in…
Chuka Umunna 10/1 2nd favourite for next LAB leader with rising star Tristram Hunt now 20/1 pic.twitter.com/TErZ2wazOg — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) November 3, 2013 The Blair and Brown of next generation Labour? There’s a great piece in the Sunday Telegraph today by Matthew d’Ancona in which he identifies rising LAB stars Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt as the Blair and Brown next generation Labour. It is a good comparison which I’d not thought of before. On Hunt he writes:- “..Hunt’s…
Henry G Manson’s Friday column Lord Collins’ interim proposals for Labour’s relationship with its affiliated unions were published yesterday. They don’t settle the issue of union funding and affiliation to Labour. In fact it provides more questions than answers. But while much of the attention has previously been on the pounds, shilling and pence that would be lost, it’s clear that these plans are about so much more than that. Together the proposals demand an organisational and cultural shift from…
Would stability be the prime concern if Miliband went? Ed Miliband has now been leader of the Labour Party for longer than Gordon Brown was. For the majority of that time, Labour has been comfortably ahead in the opinion polls and has made steady progress in local council seats and Westminster by-elections. Even so, doubts continue to be expressed about his leadership. Labour has not shown much ability to set a policy or media narrative since he became leader and…
New ICM poll for Mirror ratchets up the pressure on EdM http://t.co/zzfiy4giAn Fewer than half LAB voters satisfied pic.twitter.com/vcwlNe8uEc — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) August 20, 2013 Is his survival till GE2015 looking less likely? There some new polling from ICM for the LAB friendly Mirror, linked to in the Tweet above, that’s certain to add to party’s jitters even though the voting intention trend continues to be for Labour. Overall just 21% of those polled said they were satisfied with his…
The Speccie's Fraser Nelson got this right Labour chose the right Miliband http://t.co/WouuoQJSrJ pic.twitter.com/SU9rhgmtW4 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 14, 2013 After watching David Miliband’s interview on Marr this morning I set out to write a piece that Labour chose the right Miliband. The Speccie’s Fraser Nelson got there before me. This is how he concludes:- “David Miliband this morning reminded Labour (now 11 points ahead in the polls) that they chose the better of the two brothers…. Whatever Labour’s future holds,…
Henry G Manson on what proposed changes could mean Labour’s electoral college for determining its leader is currently divided and weighted into thirds. MPs & MEPs making up one third, party members another & affiliate members (members of trade unions and other socialist societies) the final third. What this means in practice is that the vote of an MP is worth considerably more than the individual vote of a party member and even more so an affiliate member. In 2010…
And it’s grown too big for Labour’s too The extraordinary row that has blown up over the selection for Labour’s nomination in Falkirk at the next General Election is a natural and inevitable consequence of the empire building within the union sector. There is nothing inherently wrong with unions seeking to influence Labour party selections. After all, the Labour Party was set up as a creature of the unions in the first place and Len McCluskey does have a valid…