Leadership Election Timetable - and who I'm backing
Monday 24 May: Opening of PLP nominations.
Thursday 27 May: Close of PLP nominations.
Friday 28 May: Deadline of acceptance of nomination by nominated candidates. Supporting nominations open.
June/July: Hustings will take place.
Monday 26 July: Close of supporting nominations.
Monday 16 August to Wednesday 22 September: Balloting takes place.
Wednesday 8 September: Freeze date for new members to join.
Saturday 25 September: Announcement of ballot result.
This might come as a surprise to people, but I will be voting for Ed Miliband.
I think all the candidates have their merits and that it's rather a shame that Jon Cruddas is not running as this would have provoked a wider ideological and policy debate.
I haven't decided yet who I will rank in second place - I'm going to listen to the hustings and decided in due course.
Why Ed Miliband? Gut instinct that his personality and style will appeal to voters, particularly the C2 demographic (skilled working classes) where the bottom fell out of our vote. I feel that people will be able to identify with him and warm to him more than the other runners and in an age when we have elections dominated by TV debates that is vital. He is a brilliant communicator - the speech he gave at Labour's Birmingham Spring Conference in 2008 was one of the best I have ever seen. I don't think there's much to choose ideologically between the main candidates - there are nuances of difference of vision and no doubt micro-analysis could prove Ed M is marginally to the left of the others but this is more about ability to inspire and regenerate a bruised, battered and tired party, and to clearly signal a generational change in leadership.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 1:04 pm
14 Comments:
LOL like Ed Miliband too. But believe that Andy Burnham may have the edge on appealing to those C2s and indeed DEs. Also just fine with ABC1s.
Still hoping for miracles and credible leftish and women candidates to declare. Very concerned that a couple or three candidates will aggressively and ruthlessly hoover up too many nominations, restricting choice of grass roots.
1:58 pm, May 18, 2010
Andy Burnham using his "edge"
http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/06/not-good-day-for-andy-burnham.html
3:15 pm, May 18, 2010
Luke, I agree, and for the same reasons. Important for the Party that we need a wide spread of candidates - ideologically and in terms of background (and surname).
Dan
3:43 pm, May 18, 2010
I disagree. I think David Miliband is the best candidate. As well as the C2s you have to appeal to middle England and I think David is the only one to do this. Whilst it is early days, i have been listening and reading speeches from both and I feel (I may be wrong) that Ed is trying to hard to appeal to those on the left of the party.
I am sure that Ed would inspire the party - but would he be an election winner? Further, I was not a fan of GB's (I will never forgive him for his complicitity in removing TB) and Ed (although not as thuggish as others in the inner circle) was too close to him. Oh yes - I know we need to move on from the Blair, Brown debate but it will take me some time to do so. I keep reading political books - just finished Andrew Rawnsley's latest and it brings back some painful memories....
4:30 pm, May 18, 2010
"I don't think there's much to choose ideologically between the main candidates"
That is exactly the problem. These people will carry on with the same policies that have cost the Labour Party 5 million votes since 1997.
This is very much a no choice election in which all the candidates will support nuclear weapons, nuclear power, wars, attacks on our basic civil liberties etc. All of them will also think that ordinary people should pay for the bankers' crisis.
Clearly, the Labour Party has managed to learn absolutely nothing from its coronation of Gordon Brown.
5:52 pm, May 18, 2010
I'm with you on Ed, although Andy is cuter.
My feeling is Mr Balls is going to muscle the Millibands out of the picture and the people are not going to warm to him.
Hows about the Liam note, "there is no money"?
The Cons are going to have to be the bad guys sorting out your mess before you have a chance.
God only knows what level of disaster it will finally take for Labour to become disgorged from Hackney Council.
6:04 pm, May 18, 2010
I'm also supporting Ed Miliband, for much the same reasons
1:12 am, May 19, 2010
..... and I don't think Balls will win and his votes are certainly not going to transfer to DM
1:13 am, May 19, 2010
At this stage, I'm still totally undecided. I agree that the contest will be poorer for the lack of Cruddas. My inkling is that Burnham will appeal to people more than the others, but I suppose I'll have to wait and see.
11:02 am, May 19, 2010
Ed Miliband also has the benefit of not voting for the Iraq war (because like Ed Balls he wasn't in parliament at the time).
I'm torn between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. Ed Miliband might be just too nice to deal with the toxic Cameron-Osborne-Laws alliance we see against us. I like the fact that Balls was robust in dealing with the LibDems during the post-election negotiations (though I understand that they complained about Ed Miliband being hostile too).
But I think we will all need to see much more before we can make up our minds.
Merseymike - Ed Ball's votes will transfer to Ed Miliband. That's another reason Ed Miliband might win - he will get everyone's second preferences.
6:23 pm, May 19, 2010
A start might be if the party's leadership stopped referring to people as 'C2s'.
I'll be backing John McDonnell. You might think he hasn't got a hope but I'll always back somebody who has substance in spades over the style of the Milibands.
12:01 am, May 20, 2010
He's only been in parliament since 2005, so he's not experienced enough.
Plus I don't trust anyone involved with Donaster Labour party.
8:52 am, May 20, 2010
Quite likely I will go for Ed Miliband as well. At present I think he will have the widest appeal within the party. I expect him to win.
2:18 pm, May 23, 2010
I'm hoping for the ghastly and aptly named Ed Balls. Of all the candidates he sums up the nasty, bullying, incompetant former government and why allowing them to return would be little short of national suicide.
I understand this so-called expert on education who presided on ever increasing numbers of functional illiterates leaving school is the son of a father who campaigned against grammar schools and then sent the little Balls junior off to a private school.
Typical socialist mentality - grab the opportunities for onesself and destroy them for "ordinary" people.
3:09 pm, May 28, 2010
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