- Ed: he tweets a lot.
Following those candidates…
Four days and counting. This weekend, the Labour leadership contenders set off on holiday. After weeks of sitting cheek by clenching jowl at ever frostier hustings, they appear to be putting as much distance as possible between each other. – The Telegraph.
“Packed with teenagers going to party in the park. Some get their kicks from concerts, we make do w. hustings!” – the weekend on Ed_Miliband’s Twitter feed via BBC News.
In a rare piece of Labour mass democracy, David Miliband won the support of the Midlands Bassetlaw seat, the only party so far to hold a constituency-wide primary of 33,000 party members and supporters. David Miliband won 50.3% of the vote on the first ballot, and most second preferences. The constituency MP, John Mann,, claimed 33% of the electorate had returned ballot papers, and said he would be switching his support to the former foreign secretary – The Guardian.
We lost the election because people lost a sense of who we were and what we believed. We started as the government of the windfall tax and the minimum wage and ended up defending bankers’ bonuses and failing to listen to our party members, embarrassed by our trade union links. We need a leader who is proud of our Labour values, proud of our members, proud of our Trade Unions and will speak up for them loudly and clearly. – Ed Miliband’s letter to the Unite committee, via John Rentoul.
Diane: she's 'well placed'
Watch out, Diane’s about
A surge of trade union and constituency support for Ed Miliband has put him in a strong position to challenge his brother David Miliband for the Labour Party leadership. However supporters of centre-left candidate Diane Abbott declared that she was now well-placed to “give the brothers a run for their money.” – Morning Star.
Shortlist contest
THE fiercely-contested race for Labour nomination for the first-ever elected mayor of London’s East End is now back on track after being suspended at the weekend. – East London Advertiser.
In opposition
It may be an Urgent Question granted in the House of Commons, or a roundtable on Newsnight or a blast of regional radio interviews before breakfast. Wherever the forum, you have to want to ruin a minister’s day; disrupt their plans; pour treacle into the machinery of government. You have to do this because it’s a sad truth that you can’t change lives in opposition. You can only score points. – The Guardian.
Four out of 10 Liberal Democrat voters would not have backed the party in the May General Election if they had known it would enter a coalition with the Conservatives, a poll suggests. And 37% of Lib Dem voters quizzed for BBC2’s Newsnight said they felt their party was being dishonest about cuts. – Wales Online.
Ed might tweet a lot but he doesn’t answer my emails.