INSIDE: Leadership nominations deadline likely to be extended

19/05/2010, 05:45:23 PM

The deadline for submitting nominations for the Labour leadership is likely to be extended.  Well placed sources have told Labour Uncut that at its meeting tomorrow, the procedures subcommittee of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee will reconsider the decision, announced yesterday, to open nominations next Monday and close them on Thursday.

This follows anguished protest from activists and sharp criticism from senior Labour figures like Jon Cruddas.  According to Left Foot Forward, Cruddas said: “I’ve just found that our National Executive Committee has agreed that it should only be nine days until we all nominate which the [leadership candidates] should be. Now I’ve known David Miliband for 20 years, I’ve known Ed Balls for 20 years but I don’t know what they stand for. And I’ve known them. If you’re a new MP who’s just walked through the gates, you should be given more time. It will disenfranchise the party. It’s not good for the MPs themselves, the candidates, because they won’t be able to fully explain where they’re coming from. So I think the NEC should reconvene and change this timetable.”

It appears that, in the form of the procedures committee meeting tomorrow, that’s exactly what is going to happen.

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UNCUT: Vernon Coaker on why he is Ed Balls’ campaign manager

19/05/2010, 02:49:45 PM

The Labour leadership contest provides our party with an exciting opportunity to debate the future as well learn from the past and reflect on the 2010 General Election result.

It has also been inspiring to see a party which, while disappointed with the result, is not dispirited or downhearted. A party which will not allow our proud record of 13 years in government  to be trashed and one which will hold this new coalition to account for their actions in a responsible but determined way.

So the person that we select for our leader has to be someone who will stand up for our record but also recognise our shortcomings. Someone who sees this election contest as a way of re-energising our thoughts and views about how we tackle the issues that matter: immigration, housing, welfare reform. Someone to stand up for the decent, hard-working majority.

Such a person will need to be strong and willing to face down the Tories and Liberal Democrats as they attack us, but also able to listen and connect with real people in real communities up and down the country. Read the rest of this entry »

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INSIDE: Update: the teams behind the leadership campaigns

19/05/2010, 11:06:59 AM

We summarised the core teams here yesterday.   David Miliband made a point of saying in his formal launch speech that his named spokesperson would be Lisa Tremble, and that there would be no unattributable briefing.  Cynics in the other camps have raised their eyebrows.

His organisation and logistics will fall to Joe Carberry, the widely liked godson of Peter Mandelson.  (The Dark Lord himself is ‘keeping out of it’, as is Alistair Campbell).

The weird temptations of one more campaign have lured several former Downing Street staffers. Stewart Wood, Gordon Brown’s DCMS and foreign affairs guy, has  joined Polly Billington spinning for Ed Miliband.  Into which camp Rachel Kinnock has also wandered.  Whereas the woman who used to share an office with Dr Wood in Downing St, former Head of Broadcasting, Nicola Burdett, has reportedly signed on to spin for Balls.  At whose strategy meetings she will encounter the familiar face of Michael Dugher, now MP for Barnsley East but till very recently a top spinner in the Brown Downing Street.

For those who assume otherwise: I doubt that any of these ex-staffers will be paid for any work on this campaign, though many will be working full time.  As they will have been on the general election.  Which they won’t have been paid for either.  They do it because they can’t help themselves.

So far, the Brown Downing Street is splitting between the two Eds.  But there are many yet to declare.

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GRASSROOTS: Jude Hanlon looks through the letterbox

19/05/2010, 11:05:51 AM

As well as being political activists my husband and I run our own computer support company. Recently we’ve been doing a lot of research into effective and unusual marketing techniques, and we’ve been exploring the crossover between business and political marketing.

The two problems with political marketing are getting it picked up – then getting it read. And then having enough credibility and persuasion in your content to get the reader to vote for you, and then getting the rest of their household to vote for you as well.

This spring the big hurdles were “they’re all the same” and “we never see anyone”, along with the general ennui which always underlies local elections. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNCUT: Jon Bounds on the half-appearance of the internet election

19/05/2010, 08:05:32 AM

Will the General Election in May 2010 go down as the first ‘internet election’? No. The unusual — if not entirely unexpected — result has seen to that, but it was an election in which people using the social web changed forever the way campaigning works in the UK.

Talk before was of which party could “do what Obama did”; that is, use the internet to harness support, and to fundraise. Well, no one really did — and politics in Britain was unlikely to suddenly start to work like that: we’re too conflicted, too cynical and have too many choices. We sometimes have to make decisions about how to place our cross where the local and national aims seem flatly contradictory — it was never going to be a simple case of joining one Facebook Group over another. The web can handle nuance, even if our electoral system can’t.

There was significant grassroots activity though, and perhaps the best way to see the difference between us and US is to look at the difference between my.barackobama.com (‘Organising for America’) and mydavidcameron.com (‘Airbrushed for Change’). One is a social network ‘lite’, directed at organising and nudging (very much in line with the theories of Richard Thaler) support, the other a crowdsourced Private Eye, with all the mix of clever satire and fart jokes that that might entail. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNBOUND: Wednesday News Review

19/05/2010, 06:58:03 AM

Ed Balls to join leadership race

“Mr Balls will travel to the Midlands today to give a speech from Gedling, Nottinghamshire, a marginal constituency which Labour unexpectedly held at the election. Its MP, Vernon Coaker, is among those backing Mr Balls. His declaration takes the number of leadership candidates to three. David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, and his younger brother, Ed, had been the only others to officially launch their leadership bids.” – The Independent

“Ed Balls will announce tomorrow that he will join the race to replace Gordon Brown, as Labour opted for a marathon timetable to elect a new leader. The party’s ruling executive committee responded to calls for a cathartic contest by laying out a four-month battle lasting through the summer. The new leader will be announced on the first Saturday of the party’s annual conference in September. Balls, the former schools secretary, will launch his bid while visiting two marginal constituencies in the Midlands. At the general election, the party lost one of the seats and gained the other.” – The Guardian

“David Cameron and Nick Clegg must be delighted that no women, ethnic minority candidates or working class men have entered the Labour leadership race. Assuming Ed Balls throws his hat into the ring today, he’ll be the third white, middle class man to enter the fray, joining Ed and David Miliband.” – Toby Young, The Telegraph

“The ex-Schools Secretary will join David and Ed Miliband in trying to succeed Gordon Brown. Labour bosses said yesterday the new leader will be named on September 25, the first day of the annual conference. Mr Balls, a close political ally of Mr Brown, will get heavyweight backing from trade unions.” – The Sun

“Mr Balls is expected to formally announce his candidacy today. David and Ed Miliband have already confirmed they are in the running. Andy Burnham, who was Health Secretary under Gordon Brown, is also expected to stand. Jon Cruddas, a backbencher who had been tipped to take part in the contest, has said that he will not be a candidate. Left-wing MP John McDonnell will also announce tomorrow that he intends to stand.” – Sky News

The leadership contest

“It is a tragedy for Labour that the best woman for the job isn’t even standing for the party’s leadership. Yvette Cooper would expose David Cameron and Nick Clegg as a couple of out-of-touch posh boys just by appearing at a TV podium. Persuasive and articulate, this comprehensive-educated daughter of a trade union leader is a family-friendly politician. And that’s a significant reason why the mum-of-three isn’t running. The former cabinet minister is ambitious, but not so ambitious that she’d trade her life for a thankless post with uncertain prospects.” – The Mirror

“The design specifications are exact: fortysomething Oxbridge boys who approach ideological difference through their choice of ties, who understand the importance of political stagecraft and who see no difference between “the country” and television’s demographics. Since the creation of the Blair template, they have become, as Labour is discovering, compulsory. They have to be young(ish), therefore energetic, therefore new, therefore capable of associating their brands with the word “change”. A foreigner might have difficulty in distinguishing between a Cameron, a Clegg and a Miliband (any Miliband) in an identity parade, but that’s of no account, least of all to the contestants.” – The Herald

“THE BATTLE for the Labour Party leadership is expected to intensify today with a declaration by former cabinet minister Ed Balls, but a row is looming over the decision to close off nominations next week. Even though the election will not be decided until Labour’s September annual conference, the party’s national executive committee yesterday decided that nominations would close tomorrow week. Gordon Brown’s replacement will be chosen by an electoral college split three ways between MPs, Labour Party members and union members who have not opted out of paying a political levy.” – The Irish Times

GB tried to resign before election

“Gordon Brown drafted a speech on the eve of the general election campaign setting out plans to stand down within a year of the poll, but was persuaded by senior ministers not to go ahead. At a meeting on the eve of the election, his proposal to announce his plan to stand down was supported by David Muir, his director of political strategy and chief polling adviser. But Ed Balls, Lord Mandelson and Douglas Alexander argued against the idea.” – The Guardian

“Supported by David Muir, his director of political strategy and chief polling adviser, Brown announced his plan at a meeting on the eve of the election campaign, but was dissuaded by Ed Balls, Lord Mandelson and Douglas Alexander. According to an adviser Mr Brown had even drafted a speech setting out his intentions because he saw himself as a barrier to Labour’s re-election.” – The Telegraph

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UNCUT: James Macintyre is less impressed than most by a long leadership election

18/05/2010, 12:44:25 PM

The decision by Labour’s NEC to “go long” and opt for a leadership contest that concludes at the party’s annual conference in September, is being almost universally celebrated. Harriet Harman, the acting leader, says it will provide ample “time for debate”, and most Labour supporters on Twitter and the blogs agree.

But from the point of view of the party’s reputation in the country, is it really right to assume that a long “debate” will be appreciated? The public will not forgive months of introspection, especially if it is — despite David Miliband’s challenge to candidates to join him in banning anonymous briefings –riddled with the sort of dark whispers reminiscent of the Blair-Brown years, from which many in Cabinet are so desperate to break free.

Perhaps more importantly, there is urgent work to be done in opposing what is beneath the surface a fragile coalition. There are perhaps thousands of Liberal Democrat voters angry at their party for crowning David Cameron as prime minister, who could be won over to Labour, the lasting vehicle for progress in the UK. The sooner Labour resolves the leadership question, the sooner it will be fit to emerge from the indulgences of opposition and begin the hard work of government again. From Labour’s point of view, there is no time to waste.

It is no use crying over the NEC decision. But the pressure will be on all candidates, including those who are playing what already feels like an agonizing “long game”, to keep the fight clean, and unite as soon as it is over.

James Macintyre is political correspondent of the New Statesman.

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GRASSROOTS: Claire Spencer wants us to admit defeat

18/05/2010, 09:53:28 AM

At Saturday’s Fabian Society ‘Next Left’ conference, General Secretary Sunder Katwala remarked that Labour’s defeat felt akin to bereavement for many of us. We all had a chuckle, but he was far from wrong – our candidates and activists have been in campaign mode for months, giving up most of their spare time in the name of a Labour government and a brighter future. Things had looked bad for a couple of years – but as the polls narrowed and the campaign machines roared into life, many of us hoped as we had never dared to hope before that this was salvageable, that we could win, that we could still deliver. And maybe we could have – but we didn’t – and losing that hope, that future really hit Labour people hard.

I haven’t changed my view that a Labour win would have been the best thing for the country – the timing and precision of public spending cuts, the environment and our position in Europe, to name but three areas of concern – even though it would not have been the best thing for Labour. But it doesn’t really matter what I think – as so many of the speakers at Saturday’s conference reminded us, we lost, and we lost badly, and we can’t hold the electorate in contempt for that. We failed. It felt bad, it still does – but now I feel as though I have sped through the stages of bereavement, right through to hope. At this point, we have the opportunity to take one eye off governance, and to really turn ourselves into the movement for positive change that we believe we can be, and to turn that into something eminently electable by the time we reach the next general election – hopefully in time for the people who need us as much as we need them. Read the rest of this entry »

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GRASSROOTS: Sam Bacon embraces the armchair activist

18/05/2010, 09:51:29 AM

It’s often said that things happen in threes; and so it proved for me during this election.  At three separate events, and with three distinct people, I had the same discussion about the party and its supporters.  And despite being at events intended to inspire passion and support for the campaign ahead, I left each one with a heavy heart and sense of defeat.  It wasn’t because the speakers were poor or I feared massive electoral defeat, but because the conversation kept revolving around the ‘problem’ of ‘armchair supporters’.

The general point being made was that these big set piece rallies were weren’t ‘real’ campaigning, and tended to attract an undue number of ‘armchair supporters’.  What we needed, or so the logic went, was committed, passionate, proper Labour supporters, not people who would come out to see a Minister speak, but wouldn’t knock on doors in the driving rain.  What right did they have to attend these events? And why did the party flirt with them like this?

Many will have encountered similar attitudes at Labour meetings, events and discussions.  You may even have thought – even said –  something similar.  But the election defeat should teach all of us who have time for such arguments one thing: if we’re ever going to experience victory like ‘97 again, we’re going to have to be the party of and for the people once again.  And that means taking all comers with whatever they bring to the table. Read the rest of this entry »

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GRASSROOTS: Rob Carr recommends a rest

18/05/2010, 09:47:01 AM

Now is a time for recovery for election activists.  Whether from dog-bites, worn feet or just our general levels of sanity.  There are no more major elections for a year.  Party conference isn’t until September.  Now is the time for us to get together in committee rooms, pubs, and around kitchen tables. To enjoy each other’s company.  To be refreshed.  A time to share our tales from the campaign.  Whether it’s stories of ever-larger dogs we have faced down in our mission to deliver leaflets.  Ever smaller letter boxes snapping on our fingertips.  Ever soggier leaflets falling apart in our rain-soaked hands.  

Or memories like the man who told me and a roomful of campaigners that he was going to break into his old house to retrieve his postal vote so he could cast it for Labour.  (We talked  him out of it, in case you’re wondering. He went to his polling station.)   There was the voter who answered his door naked while I was canvassing one evening.  An unpleasant experience, but a confirmed Labour vote all the same.  Or the moment when Labour Party nobility, Sir Jeremy Beecham, popped his head round the corner as I was canvassing and started miming at me.  Surreal then, but hilarious in the pub later. And – my personal favourite of the 2010 election – the Labour promise whom,  on election day,  I had to convince hadn’t cast her vote the previous week via Facebook.  I’ve no doubt we all have a good collection of similar stories and experiences to tell,  and now is the time to relax,  reflect,  and enjoy them.

But not for too long.  Just long enough to ready ourselves for the battles to be joined. Because once we’re done resting and reminiscing about the various characters, the incidents tragic and comic, and the madness of polling day, we have to start thinking about what comes next.  Gordon Brown has returned to the back benches for the first time in 20 years. With the loss of the election, we’ve come to a natural time to pause and review. Now is when we think about new direction, new policy, and new leaders.

Read more from Rob Carr

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