Who should be leader of the Labour party?

Captain_Slick · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:05

dante6491 said:
He is more left than the last one.

Hardly. All the politicians in this country are just becoming more and more diluted and will continue to become so until a consensus is formed and the current political parties cease to exist.

Naffa · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:05

Dolph said:
They were destined for the wilderness years anyway, but no, I don't think Ed can win, certainly not if he lurches left economically...

Well, he has said that he thought the Labour party lost the election because they weren't 'left wing enough'.

It's not just that though, he has zero credibility as a potential prime minister.

Mr Jack · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:05

Better Ed than his brother. David is just Blair without the political skill and charisma.

Captain_Slick · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:06

Mr Jack said:
Better Ed than his brother. David is just Blair without the political skill and charisma.

I agree with this. The crop of candidates was pretty poor. The Labour Party needs a 21st century Attlee or Wilson.

sam16dec · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:07

I'm not very happy Ed Miliband won

z3r0 · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:09

David Miliband as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland?

kmufc77 · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:10

How about the country gives Ed Miliband some time before we all criticize him?

Nobody knows what the future holds for the Labour Party unless they have a crystal ball.

Oh and before people shout Labour supporter at me,they didnt get my vote the General Election just gone

.

First time in years i voted Non Labour and that was a wasted vote

Cosimo · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:11

JamesU2005 said:
So 5 years until we know whether the country will vote for him too.

With him it will be more. As he looks at the crystal balls.

Von Smallhausen · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:13

As said, any lurch to the left politically and economically puts Labour into the wilderness for a long time and I have a feeling that Ed will take that left lurch.

I still find it strange that he said Labour didn't listen yet he wrote the last manifesto.

I wonder if David now wishes he challenged Gordon Brown in 2007 ?

Let's see who wins the first meeting at PMQs.

scorza · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:13

Quite happy with this, it means that British voters will have a genuine choice at the next general election. Centre-left vs. centre-right instead of two centre-right parties. Given that the current economic difficulties are as a direct result of centre-right policies, and the forthcoming cuts-with-relish I think a centre-left party has a real chance of victory at the next general election, and the only choice for Britain to be fixed.

Von Smallhausen · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:14

How do you mean fixed scorza ?

Dolph · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:17

kmufc77 said:
How about the country gives Ed Miliband some time before we all criticize him?

Given the massively obnoxious and lengthy nature of the leadership election, everyone has had chance to see the colours of the various candidates.

The problem the Labour party has (that Blair never managed to resolve long term) is that what appeals to the party faithful and the party funders in the union movement turns the electorate off. They've gone with the candidate they want, rather than the candidate that could win an election.

Nobody knows what the future holds for the Labour Party unless they have a crystal ball.

Nobody knows for sure, but I'm guessing based on behaviour and performance a repeat of the 1980s, where they render themselves completely unelectable to most of the British public, thereby failing to provide a meaningful opposition to the government in the eyes of the electorate. People forget that however unpopular Thatcher was, she was not as unpopular as the Labour party of the time.

Captain_Slick · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:17

Von Smallhausen said:
As said, any lurch to the left politically and economically puts Labour into the wilderness for a long time and I have a feeling that Ed will take that left lurch.

I still find it strange that he said Labour didn't listen yet he wrote the last manifesto.

Depends how far left he goes, if at all. Many left policies could further consolidate Labour support in their fortresses of Scotland, the North and Wales and part of London.

On that second point - that's exactly one of my problems with Ed. It's all very well saying that they've got to change, but he had the opportunity to change the party (as much as Brown would let him) at the last election and they lost.

scorza · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:20

Von Smallhausen said:
How do you mean fixed scorza ?

Less crime, better education available to everyone, less mental health issues in society, fewer teenage pregnancies, greater innovation - just a few things I think can be achieved by a true centre-left government.

Dolph · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:20

Captain_Slick said:
Depends how far left he goes, if at all. Many left policies could further consolidate Labour support in their fortresses of Scotland, the North and Wales and part of London.

But that will help them less when the constituencies are aligned and correctly distributed than it does at present. Also remember that consolidating their support in areas where they already have it can't win you an election.

On that second point - that's exactly one of my problems with Ed. It's all very well saying that they've got to change, but he had the opportunity to change the party (as much as Brown would let him) at the last election and they lost.

They didn't just lose, they were wiped out. They did worse than the Tories did in 1997, only being protected by a gerrymandered electoral system, and it was the second worst defeat in the history of the party apart from 1983...

Dolph · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:22

scorza said:
Less crime, better education available to everyone, less mental health issues in society, fewer teenage pregnancies, greater innovation - just a few things I think can be achieved by a true centre-left government.

But most of the countries that have those things have service structures that you criticise when the coalition propose to bring them to the UK...

Are you still on the idea that the problem is simply a lack of enforced money distribution and taxation?

Captain_Slick · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:23

Dolph said:
But that will help them less when the constituencies are aligned and correctly distributed than it does at present. Also remember that consolidating their support in areas where they already have it can't win you an election.

They didn't just lose, they were wiped out. They did worse than the Tories did in 1997, only being protected by a gerrymandered electoral system, and it was the second worst defeat in the history of the party apart from 1983...

When are the constituencies being aligned then?

I meant the areas that are traditionally Labour but were lost at the last election.

Exactly. How does the author of a crap campaign suddenly become the best chance the party has got? It's all very well for him to claim that his manifesto wasn't radical enough... why didn't he make it more radical then? Was he holding out to win it himself? Is he that selfish?

badcompany · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:24

great the idiot who once said "if you don't believe in global warming your a flat earth-er "

I pray they never see power whilst that muppet is at the helm.

badcompany · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:25

kmufc77 said:
First time in years i voted Non Labour and that was a wasted vote

no it wasn't it helped keep them out

Tefal · 25 Sep 2010 at 17:25

badcompany said:
great the idiot who once said "if you don't believe in global warming your a flat earth-er "

I pray they never see power whilst that muppet is at the helm.

I thought you where a big GW supporter along with all yoyr other doomsday fantasies?

Your hero Richard Heinberg is a big global warming fan ain't he?