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Category: Labour leadership

Is Jackie Ashley right to chastise her party?

Is Jackie Ashley right to chastise her party?

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Guardian Could Labour be wrong by “playing nasty”? One of most provocative “Monday columns” in the the papers this morning is from Jacky Ashley in the Guardian in which she takes Labour to task for not reading reading the public mood right. She argues: “Labour is playing bad politics. The leadership campaign is turning into a tin-ear, foot-in-mouth competition about who can be nastiest to the Liberal Democrats. As candidates desperately try to prove themselves more true Labour, more tribal…

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Would EdM prefer being in opposition rather than government?

Would EdM prefer being in opposition rather than government?

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BBC News Could today’s comment come back to haunt him? We all know that the middle of a leadership battle it’s vital to make comments and statements that chime with the party but could Ed Miliband come to regret saying that he wouldn’t go into coalition with Nick Clegg. Who knows what’s going to happen at the next election but even with the planned constituency changes there’s a highish probability of there being another hung parliament. And in that situation…

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The markets move further away from EdM

The markets move further away from EdM

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Betfair Politics Candidate Best bookie price Betfair Back – Lay David Miliband 2/5 1.41 – 1.43 Ed Miliband 21/10 3.80 – 3.85 Ed Balls 66/1 75 – 120 Andy Burnham 80/1 140 – 300 Diane Abbott 150/1 220 – 330 But is it really done and dusted? Yesterday I had lunch with someone who is close to Labour’s leadership battle and he was far from convinced that a David Miliband victory is a foregone conclusion. He wondered whether the MPs…

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Will the coalition hit the winning Miliband hard from day one?

Will the coalition hit the winning Miliband hard from day one?

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Have they learnt the lesson of Cameron’s easy ride? Interesting piece from the Speccie’s James Forsyth in the Mail on Sunday on the coalition’s attack plans for when Dave or EdM is elected on the afternoon of September 25th. He writes: “This desire to launch an instant strike is a product of David Cameron’s own experience. When he became Tory leader in 2005, Brown wanted to go for him straight away but Tony Blair overruled him, arguing that they needed…

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Is Whelan risking his job by backing Balls?

Is Whelan risking his job by backing Balls?

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Why’s UNITE’s man not supporting EdM? The big development in Labour’s leadership battle before everybody went on holiday was the overwhelming decision by UNITE’s political committee to give its backing to Ed Miliband. But today, in the Mail, the political director of that union, the loyal Brownite , Charlie Whelan makes no secret of his continuing backing for Ed Balls. This has prompted PB’s Labour observer in the north east, Henry G Manson to drop me an email: He writes:…

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Could October’s polls point to a Labour majority?

Could October’s polls point to a Labour majority?

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New Leader Pre-election ICM Post-election ICM Uplift John Smith 1992 35 39.33 4.33 Tony Blair 1994 44.66 47.66 3 William Hague 1997 31.4 (GE result) 25 -6.4 Iain Duncan Smith 2001 29.66 29 -0.66 Michael Howard 2003 32.66 33.33 0.66 David Cameron 2005 37.33 39.33 2 Gordon Brown 2007 31 39 8 Mili-E/Mili-D 2010 ?? ?? ? What’ll be the scale of the new leader bounce? If the next election is fought on the current boundaries then the uniform swing…

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Has Ed Balls moved from contender to king-maker?

Has Ed Balls moved from contender to king-maker?

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Henry G Manson on who will get EdB’s 2nd preferences? It’s now pretty well accepted that Jon Cruddas’ public second-preferencing for Harriet Harman during the Newsnight debate swung sufficient MPs to help her win the deputy leadership from Alan Johnson. Ed Balls has indicated he’ll be announcing who he’ll second preference for the leadership contest in early September. More than any other group of supporters in the party, his backers will move like a herd. Will Straw’s analysis today suggests…

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Why is the Labour leadership contest so boring?

Why is the Labour leadership contest so boring?

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Has the party lost its mojo? The Labour Party used to give excellent theatre. From conference debates to leadership and deputy leadership elections, the battle for Labour’s – and to those participating, the country’s – future was vigorously fought in public. By contrast, the current contest to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour leader has not exactly caught the public imagination. Why? Having just lost power after 13 years, and with the reasonable prospect of not having a chance of regaining…

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