Why I’d be backing Balls if I was Labour There’s been a lot of attention on Ed Balls over the past couple of days as nominations for the Labour leadership are about to close and the race proper will begin. The shadow schools’ secretary had a good appearance on the Politics Show on Sunday and had to miss the first hustings because it was education question yesterday in the commons. The big news from the former was his readiness to…
Has he been the only one campaigning seriously The big news tonight in the Labour race is a statement by Douglas Alexander, who was previously a strong Mili-Ed supporter, on why he has come out backing Mili-D. This follows the endorsement from Alistair Darling and it looks as though Alexander, a key figure, has worked out where this race is going and wants to be on the DM band-wagon. There have also been strong reports reports of how much more…
Remember the 2007 Labour deputy election? It’s a good political trivia question. Can you name the six prominent Labour figures who fought for the deputy leadership of the party in June 2007? They are lined up above for the deputy TV debate. They were, of course from left to right, Hilary Benn, Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Alan Johnson, Peter Hain and John Cruddas. All of them were returned to the commons on May 6 2010 and yet not one of…
Did his dithering blow Labour’s election chances? The first Thursday in June exactly a year ago was one of the most significant days in the history of the Labour government when one man, David Miliband, had to make probably the toughest call of his political career. Should he join the Works and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, who resigned at precisely 10pm as soon as voting in that day’s local and EU elections came to an end or should he stay…
Would EdM benefit if some of his surplus switched to John/Diane? The first day back after the long weekend and it’s starting to look as though Labour’s leadership election will be confined to the Two Eds and Dave. Andy Burnham is continuing to struggle while left-wingers, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, look to have almost no chance of securing the 33 nominations required to get them on the ballot. From the perspective of the Labour movement is it healthy to…
Will a big line-up make it harder to predict? Above is a clip from the Guardian on the day that voting packs went out on the last occasion that Labour’s election machinery was used – the June 2007 deputy election. At this point, just seventeen days before the result was announced, the firm favourite at 6/5 was Hilary Benn. Behind him in the betting came Alan Johnson (2/1), John Cruddas (4/1), Harriet Harman 6/1, Hazel Blears 16/1 and Peter Hain…
Is the momentum enough to see one over the line? With less than two weeks to go until nominations close, three candidates for the Labour leadership have now received the 33 nominations necessary to secure their place on the ballot: Ed and David Miliband and Ed Balls. Andy Burnham is just half way to the threshold while Diane Abbott and John McDonnell are stuck in single figures. There are still around 100 Labour MP’s yet to declare but with the…
Labour.org.uk Is Ed putting the early pressure on his brother? Twice a day the Labour party is revising the nomination totals for each of the six hopefuls who have declared that they are running. What’s been marked is the way the Ed Miliband campaign managed to get its slate of the required 33 in ahead of the others and how they are continuing to add to the list. I wonder whether we are seeing fierce sibling rivalry with the younger…