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Shadow cabinet: the early reaction

08/10/2010, 12:49:04 AM

The top 3 are all members of Team Balls – Balls himself, wife Yvette Cooper and former housing minister John Healey. MPs backing Balls were decisive in swinging the leadership election to Ed Miliband in the fourth round and have now had a huge influence on the shadow cabinet election. Of the top 10, as the ToryPressHQ Twitter feed has mischievously noted, not a single MP put Ed Miliband down as their first choice in the leadership election. Of the “gang of four” – the quartet of ex-cabinet ministers who backed Ed Miliband – three managed to get elected (John Denham, Sadiq Khan and Hilary Benn) and one (Peter Hain) did not. How will the Labour leader reward the three who survived, if at all? And poor Peter Hain. – The New Statesman

Yvette Cooper topped the poll last night as Labour MPs elected the “new generation” of senior frontbenchers who will serve under the party’s new leader, Ed Miliband. Ms Cooper strengthened her claim to a senior post, possibly as shadow Chancellor, by winning the votes of 232 of the 257 Labour MPs in the Shadow Cabinet elections. She was one of eight women elected by Labour MPs for the 19 places up for grabs. Mr Miliband is expected to announce today which portfolios the winners will get. John Healey, Labour’s housing spokesman and a close ally of Gordon Brown, came a surprise second, finishing above Ed Balls and Andy Burnham, who both contested the party’s leadership election. – The Independent

Ms Cooper won the most votes, gaining 40 ballots more than the number two, John Healey, and handing her a strong claim to the role of shadow chancellor. Her husband Ed Balls, who lost out in the party’s leadership election, came third. He later tweeted: “We both v happy with the results.” But three former Cabinet ministers crashed out. Peter Hain lost by three votes in a major shock to Westminster. Ben Bradshaw and Shaun Woodward also lost out and all must now fear their careers in frontline politics are over. – Sky

Ben Bradshaw’s failure to make the shadow cabinet is not such a surprise, despite his manifest talents; he didn’t have enough support on the left of the party. More of a shocker is Peter Hain, former Welsh secretary, not reaching the final 19 (by a whisker) despite having been deputy chair of Ed Miliband’s election campaign. Others who might have made it but did not include Chris Bryant, Diane Abbott (who tends to rub other MPs up the wrong way) and Emily Thornberry, who may still make it to the front bench before long. Hain missed out by just three votes while Thornberry fell short by just one. As for who came in the last three, they were Mike Gapes at 12 votes, Alun Michael at 11 and Eric Joyce with just 10. – The FT (more…)

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The new shadow cabinet: who are they and what do they mean

07/10/2010, 08:51:32 PM

Douglas Alexander (160 votes)

Reponsible for Gordon Brown’s election campaign and David Miliband’s leadership campaign, wee Douglas (as he used to be known when he was GB’s Parliamentary amanuensis in the early nineties) is not looking very lucky at the moment. But he got on the shadow cabinet without running much of a campaign and will expect a better job than he might otherwise have got, in token of the new leader’s magnanimity.

Ed Balls (179 votes)

Won the leadership campaign by a mile, but lost the election by a similar distance. It’s widely considered to be a toss-up between him and his wife, Yvette Cooper, for the shadow chancellorship, which he has made no secret of wanting. With David Miliband all but out of the picture, one could argue that the tone of Labour’s next five years will be set by what Ed M decides to do with Ed B in the next few days. And what Ed B decides to do back.

Hilary Benn (128 votes)

A minister for nine years, including seven in the cabinet, Hilary Benn is more experienced than he seems. It says a lot not just for his longevity, but for the way he colonised his two main briefs, that it’s hard to imagine him shadowing other than DEFRA or DECC.

Andy Burnham (165 votes)

Very well liked and quite well respected before the leadership campaign, Andy Burnham emerged even more popular but probably less highly esteemed. His campaign lacked ideological bite, but the man himself is a straight-down-the-line Blairite right-winger. As such, he will be an important pole in Ed Miliband’s big tent.

Liam Byrne (100 votes)

Hasn’t lived down the “no money left” note yet. But he will. Much younger than he looks (he turned 40 last weekend), he is an over-achiever with a Harvard MBA and fast-tracked ministerial career. Sees himself as a future leader. Took soundings this time over a possible Byrne bid, made the right choice on finding no real market. It’s not quite in his script that the new leader is the same age as him. Or that he had to work extremely hard to scrape onto the shad cab. But he did. Liam does not do failure. Which is why we need him. (more…)

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Thursday News Review

07/10/2010, 07:15:58 AM

Child benefit backlash

George Osborne’s announcement on cutting child benefit for those on higher tax rates was meant to signal that the party is willing to hurt even its own people in the pursuit of fair cuts. But it caused outrage in the ranks among back-benchers, and seemed only to confirm that David Cameron and his inner circle had in reality bought into the Lib Dem view of life and were “essentially anti-marriage”. In fact it has turned out to be the Conservatives’ 10p tax moment – similar to the fury caused when Gordon Brown scrapped the bottom rate of income tax to help fund a basic rate cut to help the better-off. – The Scotsman

The collateral damage from the Government’s ham-fisted plan to withdraw child benefit from higher-rate taxpayers has been severe. It has overshadowed the first party conference in 14 years at which the Conservatives can celebrate being in power. David Cameron was forced to spend much of yesterday touring the broadcasting studios on a firefighting mission; George Osborne had to write to all Tory MPs explaining that he had no alternative but to use such a blunt instrument because a fairer mechanism based on household incomes would “create a new complex, costly and intrusive means test”. Both men hinted that tax breaks for married couples or even a transferable tax allowance would be introduced by the end of this Parliament to soften the impact of the benefit withdrawal. – The Telegraph

Cameron’s big moment

David Cameron pressed all the essential pulse points for committed party members, slating a lengthy list of Labour’s failings, pledging to roll back the power of the state, emphasising fairness, promising to create an environment in which the Tory virtues of entrepreneurship and self-reliance would thrive and describing Baroness Thatcher as Britain’s greatest peacetime Prime Minister of the past century. It all received the standard standing ovations but will have done nothing to reassure the wider public, particularly floating or Liberal Democrat voters apprehensive about the cuts to be set in motion by the public spending review in two weeks. – The Herald

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Text messages from shadow cabinet wannabees

05/10/2010, 02:39:16 PM

For those destined to be touched by shadow greatness, this Thursday – when the shadow cabinet ballot closes and results are announced – will be the moment of ascension.

The day of light when glory is made flesh by GOTV and the victorious schmoozers rise bodily to sit at the right hand of Ed.

In the three rogation days which remain before Thursday, the devoted must Get Out the Vote.

They know how to do this. They are campaigners. Politcians. It is what they do. It is what makes them special.

With assiduity and love they have made a database. Their colleagues are on it. Colour-coded according to their level of support.

And their details are on it too. Not just their phone numbers and emails, but their personal information: their partners, children, hobby horses, tragedies – all noted to prompt and enliven that clinchingly warm conversation.

And the tearoom “bump intos” are endless. And the letters and emails are objects of scorn. And the phone calls are so many that they have become fraught.

Perhaps text messages may be the answer. Gentle, subtle, not too intrusive. But showing that you care. That you’re bothered. That you can be arsed. And that you can text.

Below is an early selection of GOTV SMSs. Long-suffering PLP members should feel welcome to send more.

You have probably been rung enough. But please consider giving me one of your votes for the Shadow Cabinet. Any questions call me 07xx xx xxxx Diane Abbott

* * *

Dear xxxxx It was good to see you at Conference. Some week! I sent you a note about the Shadow Cabinet, and I would much appreciate your support. If you want a word then please text me back, email me at xxxxx@parliament.uk or ring me on xxxxx xxxxxx Thanks a lot and best wishes Hilary

* * *

Hi xxxxx. In true campaign style I’m now doing get-out-the-vote for the shadow cabinet elections. I hope I can rely on your support – and please consider this number the Voter Hotline if you’d like to speak! Thanks – Emily T

* * *

xxxxxx I’m standing for shadow cabinet. I hope you will consider giving me one of your votes. We need new faces, who have served their apprenticeship and can cut the mustard in the Commons and country. I can fulfil the need for a Welsh colleague too. I’m texting instead of pestering you with a call, but text if you’d like to talk or support me. Best. Kevin Brennan

* * *

xxxxxx it’s Tessa – I hope you won’t feel pestered if I remind you that I’m standing for the Shadow Cabinet and I would be enormously grateful for your support. Please call if you’d like to talk…

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Shadow cabinet: the energetic Iain Wright wants your vote

05/10/2010, 02:12:14 PM

IainWright

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Shadow cabinet: Kev Jones wants your vote (and the defence portfolio)

05/10/2010, 02:01:36 PM

KevanJones

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Shadow cabinet: who will make the cut?

04/10/2010, 11:25:09 AM

This week we will finally find out who will make it into the new leaders opposition fighting force. The squad of 49 will be trimmed to 19. The mother of all popularity contests will culminate on Thursday, with 30 wannabe front benchers being sent back to the minors.

It is all too much for some members of the PLP to take. It only took a day to upset Bob Ainsworth. Tom Watson announced a pretty strict rule on twitter: send me unsolicited text messages and it’s game over.

Another member of the PLP, sick of the constant emailing, letter writing and texting sent this to the Uncut mobile:

XXXXX, just reminding you to vote for me in the Shadow Cabinet elections (the ballot opens today). David Lammy

I HAVE NEVER EVEN SPOKEN TO HIM, LET ALONE PROMISED TO VOTE FOR HIM.

* * *

I’m standing for shadow cabinet. Ed needs a strong team and I wld bring energy *and* experience. Pls will u consider supporting me? Thanks, Peter Hain

IMPERSONAL BUT AT LEAST POLITE.

Thursday can’t come soon enough, not only for the 49 who have thrown their hats into the ring, but for the rest of the PLP. The runners and riders are: (more…)

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Saturday News Review

02/10/2010, 07:56:55 AM

Luring Lib Dems

Mr Miliband is playing a longer game. He criticised the Iraq war not to embarrass his brother but to send a powerful signal to Liberal Democrat voters. It appears to have worked. A poll of 1,023 people by the PoliticsHome website found that 47 per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters have more respect for Mr Miliband as a result of his remarks about Iraq (as do 48 per cent of Labour voters). He also talked up his credentials on civil liberties and promised to back the alternative vote in next May’s referendum. – The Independent

Lib Dems were also the only group to favour Ed Miliband over his brother David, with 34% of members thinking him the better leadership candidate. The survey will confirm fears in Lib Dem HQ that Ed Miliband represented the most serious threat to the party. By being sympathetic to Liberal views on civil liberties and foreign policy but against the spending cuts being implemented by the Conservatives, the younger Miliband brother can attract Lib Dem supporters alienated by the deficit reduction plan. – politics.co.uk

Strike Breaker

Labour’s new leader had kept quiet over next week’s scheduled walkout. But yesterday, in an effort to rid himself of his ‘Red Ed’ tag, he said Mr Cameron’s address should be broadcast in the “interests of impartiality and fairness”. Mr Miliband, voted leader on the back of union support, stopped short of condemning broadcasting union Bectu’s strike plan. He said: “Whatever the rights and wrongs of the dispute between Bectu and the BBC, they should not be blacking out the PM’s speech. “My speech was seen and heard on the BBC … so the Prime Minister’s should be.” – The Sun

Gerry Morrissey, the general secretary of Bectu, expressed the union’s “dissatisfaction” with Miliband’s intervention. “As a Labour party affiliate, Bectu places on record its dissatisfaction with Ed Miliband’s statement today. The leader’s intervention is not helpful and is dismissive of our actions as a responsible trade union which has been negotiating with the employer on this issue for three long months,” Morrissey said. Miliband this week sought to allay fears that he would reward affiliated trade unions for backing him in the leadership race in his first keynote speech since being elected Labour leader. – The Guardian (more…)

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Shadow cabinet: vote for Rob ‘he’s a jolly good’ Flello

01/10/2010, 02:08:03 PM

FLELLO

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Friday News Review

01/10/2010, 06:12:59 AM

Poll boost for Labour

Ed Miliband ends his first week as Labour leader with his party ahead of the Tories in a Guardian/ICM poll for the first time since Gordon Brown ducked the chance of holding an election in 2007. But the two-point lead is the result of a slump in Conservative support rather than any surge in Labour backing and the poll suggests voters are giving Miliband a wary rather than an enthusiastic welcome. The results will offer him a morale boost at the end of a tumultuous week but they also suggest that many Labour supporters are yet to see their new leader as a potential prime minister, and that his brother David might have attracted more support in the short term. – The Guardian

There’s a new ICM poll in the Guardian which once again is showing a very different picture of public opinion from that which we see in the News International daily poll by YouGov. The shares are with changes on last month CON 35 (-2): LAB 37 (nc): LD 18 (nc). The Lib Dems will be relieved that the pollster that came top in the general election polling accuracy table should have them at levels which are markedly different from the daily polls. Yes support is down since the 23.6% at the general election but the fall-off in support has apparently been halted. – Political Betting

Positioning Ed

In eschewing ideological politics for the politics of values, it is not so much JFK that Miliband is invoking but Robert Kennedy: yes, the younger brother. And the red thread that runs through the values argument is not the Socialist argument of Ralph Miliband, the Jewish immigrant Marxist father of the brothers, but rather a strain of radical Catholicism that also ran through Robert Kennedy’s late political framework. For a politician who will need to confront both the hegemony and destructive immorality of the world political-economic order as well the furious, defeated neo-liberal wing of his own Party, this is a clever stance, and it might just win the day for Ed Miliband. – The Huffington Post

(more…)

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