Labour should go slow

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour should go slow http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour should go slow http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

Labour should learn from Michael Howard and slow down the leadership contest to win the next election http://bit.ly/aGHmdA signed by my MP!

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour needs to be an Opposition first and choose its leader in the autumn after a proper post-mortem http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour needs to be an Opposition first and choose its leader in the autumn after a proper post-mortem http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour needs to be an Opposition first and choose its leader in the autumn after a proper post-mortem http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour should go slow http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd Labour needs to be an Opposition first and choose its leader in the autumn after a proper post-mortem http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour needs to be an Opposition first and choose its leader in the autumn after a proper post-mortem http://bit.ly/aGHmdA

Couldn’t agree more with this. Milliband(s) et al should calm down. We’re a long time likely in opposition, at least 5 years I suspect, though I pray for 2 Why rush now. Will’s final comment is the most important. Lets’s see what the Tory-Dems inflict on us in the June budget. That is what the new leader must fight and I want to hear what they think about it before I vote for one of them…

Agreed. But if we get the election process right, there’s no reason why it shoul be internal rather than inclusive. The more we do this in public (granted many won’t want to hear from Labour at the moment) the less it will be destructive.

My own thoughts are here, if you can help improve the idea: http://blog.matthewcain.co.uk/a-primary-vote-for-labour-party-leader/

Will – Bang on the money but remember whatever cuts are coming down the line will be blamed on the previous government.

I also agree with Bryn The Cat that the Milibands should calm down – wait until the party conference I say before announcing leadership challenges and let’s copy the Tories with their Primaries thing – that just looks good to the public and keeps positive Labour stories in the media.

Finally let’s hope Dromey, Balls, Harman and co are resoundingly put in their place and no Campbell or Mandelson please – they are simply too polemic for the majority of people in this country.

Can’t you speak to your old man and get him to stand?

Will I’d say that is a bit of a gamble. The Con Dem Nation (Thank You, Daily Mirror) might talk the talk about 5 years, but it’s day 3 and the cracks are starting to emerge.

We could yet end up with a second election; I read somewhere that Ladbrooks are cutting the odds of a second election to evens and Labour want to go in with a leader in place.

Why not take time? With the increased political awareness following the election Labour should use the leadership contest as a platform to air their policies!

Labour needs a new leader who can act as a bridge between the old Blairite/Brownite acrimony, and the future generation.

Some of the younger candidates – such as David Milliband – are tainted by their association with the bitter personal and party divisions of the past. Ed Balls and David Milliband must not be allowed to repeat the rivalries of the Blair-Brown years.

And however “clever” the younger folk are supposed to be, they are not ready for power. Crucially, they do not connect well with the wider public. They are (and look like/sound like) Oxbridge-educated policy wonks.

There are two scenarios looking ahead. A combination of infighting and/or economic instability may bring down the coalition. In that case we need a leader who is a mature, calming and consensual influence. As has been said, in the event of an election in the next 24 months, Labour could benefit enormously from the anti-LD backlash.

But, if the coalition functions well, Labour may be out of power for some time. In this scenario, we also need a ‘transition’ candidate who is well placed to guide the party through a period of renewal and self-examination.

Alan Johnson has a great gift for communication, and the wider public – especially the disenfranchised Labour vote – will identify strongly with him. He would constitute an excellent contrast to Clegg and Cameron. He could take advantage of coalition failure, or guide the party through a prolonged period of opposition.

For the sake of the party, and the country he should reconsider his decision not to stand.

Michael Collins – Agree on Alan Johnson but there is another scenario you haven’t considered.

What if the Lib-Dems turn out to be OK in government? Certainly the humour with Cameron the other day was an absolute breath of fresh air compared to Labour ministers looking serious, po faced and blabbing about “The serious business of government” etc. Labour needs to just lighten up.

My point is that if this coalition works and it just might, what then for the left in this country?

Clegg can argue he has been in government and the Lib Dems childish, sixth form student debating type policies, such as Trident will be quietly dropped.

Now you have the Tories right of centre: the Lib-Dems left of centre so why vote for Labour?

The time Labour spends in opposition needs to be spent looking to the future and not spent fighting the last election that they lost. Some of the articles on this blog need to get real – negativity about one’s opponents clearly doesn’t work.

Let’s have a positive Labour message and see what happens…

It’s a good point about the emergency budget… but who on the Labour side is going to respond to this?

Alastair Darling, Gordon Brown or ANother??

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