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Posts Tagged ‘Labour’

It takes a mayor to lead a city, says Liam Fogarty

03/06/2010, 08:11:28 AM

Londoners electing a Mayor seems like the most natural thing in the world. Hard now to imagine that it was once seen as a radical, even dangerous, innovation.

Yet the simple principle that a city should have directly accountable, visible leadership is being applied in just a handful of English cities and towns.

Three-term Mayors Dorothy Thornhill (Liberal Democrat, Watford)) and Stuart Drummond (Independent, Hartlepool) have emerged as popular local champions. London borough Mayors like Jules Pipe in Hackney and Lewisham’s Sir Steve Bullock can point to better services, greater public engagement and real strategic leadership as their mayoral dividend. The mayoralty of Greater London has become one of the most high-profile posts in British politics. (more…)

Posted in Uncut | 3 Comments »

Immigration is not the enemy, not the answer, says Rob Carr

02/06/2010, 03:59:01 PM

I’m puzzled. I’m puzzled by our leaders and by some of the commentariat.

I spent the general election campaigning on the ground. I knocked on a lot of doors, did a lot of phone-banking, talked to a lot of voters.

While I did most of that campaigning in Newcastle, it wasn’t the only place. I talked to voters in Bury. I talked to voters in London. I talked to voters in Nottingham, Scotland, Wales and the Southwest.

I had fantastic conversations in our word-of-mouth campaign. Conversations about SureStart, about jobs, about hospitals. I listened to voters’ concerns on the economy, housing, welfare, education, and human rights. I learned a lot about what people thought Labour had done right and what we had done wrong.

And having done all that talking, listening, communicating, I’m puzzled. (more…)

Posted in Grassroots | 5 Comments »

Je vis de bonne soupe et non de beau language

02/06/2010, 12:06:13 PM

The main leadership candidates are the sons of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. (Andy Burnham, it must be admitted, is more like the son of Chris Smith; but at the moment he is struggling to look like a main contender).

It comes as no surprise, in which case, that they are taking great care with their ‘messaging’.

(None has so far come up with very much to say. But actually having something to say goes beyond ‘messaging’. It is up there in the spin-wonk stratosphere with ‘strategy’).

David Miliband’s campaign is the best across the board. And so is his messaging. Every word is painstakingly crafted, by people – such as his spin doctor Lisa Tremble and Google’s DJ Collins – who are good at crafting words. Every two or three sentences carries a mellifluent phrase which stops – just – short of being a soundbite. (more…)

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Alistair Darling’s letter in support of David Miliband

01/06/2010, 10:13:56 PM

Alistair Darling released the following letter to his constituency party at 10pm on 1 June 2010.

Andrew Burns
Labour Party offices
78 Buccleuch Street
Edinburgh

Dear Andrew,

I am writing to let you know I will be nominating David Miliband as the next Leader of the Labour Party, and to explain my reasons for doing so. This is a crucial moment for our party so I wanted to write to you myself to set out my thinking.

We are fortunate to have a field of very strong candidates, each with different qualities. However, I believe strongly that David Miliband is the right person to lead our party, first in Opposition and then back to power. He has the right Labour values, with a deep commitment to equality. He has the ability to inspire the party with a compelling vision for the future, returning to our roots as a social movement for change. He has the maturity and humility to bring together different talents irrespective of whether they supported him in the leadership contest. He will re-engage Labour with the public, particularly those with whom we have lost touch. David has always campaigned and argued positively for the Labour Party and that is the kind of leadership we need. (more…)

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Darling likely to endorse David Miliband this evening.

01/06/2010, 05:30:45 PM

Uncut hears convincing reports that the Shadow Chancellor, Alistair Darling, is likely to endorse David Miliband’s bid for the Labour leadership later this evening.

An increasingly pivotal figure in the previous regime, Darling’s support will be seen as significant.

Other members of the defeated Labour cabinet backing David Miliband include Alan Johnson, Douglas Alexander, Ben Bradshaw, Bob Ainsworth and Jim Murphy.

Ed Miliband is backed by Hilary Benn, John Denham and Peter Hain; while Ed Balls is supported by his wife, Yvette Cooper.

Still to declare are Gordon Brown, Nick Brown, Liam Byrne, Jack Straw and Shaun Woodward.

Posted in Inside | No Comments »

Peter Hain on Ed Miliband’s X-factor

01/06/2010, 08:15:12 AM

Labour is blessed in its choice for Leader by having dynamic fortyish main runners each with Cabinet experience – not a benefit either the Tories in 2010 or Labour in 1997 enjoyed. Each could do a good job.

But doing a ‘good job’ is not enough. From a 29 per cent base – lower than the Tories polled when they lost so badly in 1997 – it is not going to be easy to win next time. And, for me, the candidate who has the winning X-factor is Ed Miliband.

His support is spread right across the Parliamentary party – male and female, black and white, all regions and nations, new and experienced, shadow cabinet and backbench, left, centre and right.

With an open, comfortable, media-friendly personality, he appeals to the public. He offers both freshness and governmental gravitas; super-bright yet highly approachable. People warm to him, and he talks like a real person, uncluttered by New Labour’s grating technocratic jargon and on-message guff. (more…)

Posted in Uncut | 8 Comments »

Forget the leadership – the real fight is to be deputy speaker

01/06/2010, 07:40:57 AM

The real cognoscente election of the moment is that for the Labour deputy speakerships.

It is hard to get worked up about the leadership election. So many months. So few differences.

And the shadow cabinet election, not scheduled to happen till after the new leader is anointed, remains a little abstract. (The emerging theme, though, is of a bizarre mass election in which more members of the PLP stand than don’t.)

But the first ever deputy speakership election is interesting. Ostensibly, it is part of the revolutionary change sweeping Parliament in the wake of the expenses crisis. In fact, exactly the same people will be elected to exactly the same unsung jobs chairing Parliament’s unseen hours as would have been appointed anyway. (more…)

Posted in Inside | 3 Comments »

Pressure mounts on undecided MPs to back likely losers

31/05/2010, 10:50:47 AM

The weekend has seen a flurry of letters to MPs from unrelated activists all over the country asking them to nominate John McDonnell. Several MPs report having received literally dozens of such emails in the last 72 hours.

There was a short burst of similar activity in support of Diane Abbott just after she announced her candidacy, but it soon tailed off.

The current deluge is the result of an impressive organisational effort by McDonnell, who has also succeeded in getting the leaders of several unions (for instance, the bakers, the Fire Brigades Union, the Communication Workers Union) to write to MPs in his support.

Reports from constituency parties reveal an almost universal desire for as many names as possible on the leadership ballot paper. Regardless of their individual allegiences, party members want the widest choice. (more…)

Posted in Inside | 3 Comments »

Jim Garner’s Letter to the Parliamentary Labour Party

31/05/2010, 10:45:50 AM

I sent out this letter to every Labour MP today, explaining why I am standing for the Labour leadership. I signed each letter personally. It took ages.

Dear colleague,

As a Party, we have just come through one of the toughest elections in a generation. Thirteen years of governing took its toll. We need to renew. We lost touch. We need to reconnect. Our ability to broadcast our values to our core root disappeared.

That’s why today I am putting myself forward to be considered for leader of our Party.

I realise I am not the most experienced candidate in the field, having only become an MP earlier this month. If you believe that having been a minister and dealing with the pressure that that brings, day in day out, makes you more suitable for the role of leader, then I am not your man. (more…)

Posted in Inside | 2 Comments »