Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members

Labour backbencher John Mann has switched his support from Ed Miliband – whom he nominated – to David Miliband following a ballot of 15,000 party members and known Labour voters in his Bassetlaw constituency. The results on a turnout of 32 per cent were: David Miliband (50.3%), Ed Miliband (20.2%), Ed Balls (15.4%), Andy Burnham (7.7%) and Diane Abbott (6.5%).

The total electorate in Bassetlaw is just over 76,500, of which 25,018 voted Labour; three-fifths of that number were balloted, with about a fifth of all Labour voters replying. No other Constituency Labour Party nor polling organisation has polled such a large number of Labour voters.

Mann told Left Foot Forward:

“I gave an undertaking to my Labour voters in Bassetlaw I would vote the way they mandated me to do, however, now I know the margin, the fact that it’s not narrow, that one candidate has got a huge proportion of the vote, over 50 per cent, I listen to my Labour voters, they give me a mandate and I shall follow that mandate.

“Well, this is the first primary, I’m sure it won’t be the last in British politics for leaderships, that’s what politics should be about, we don’t have all the wisdom as MPs, let the people decide, I trust my voters, I respect them, they’ve had their say and we in my area will abide by it.”

Watch it:

Furthermore, had they been required, on second, third and fourth preferences, David Miliband would also have come out on top, with 55 per cent of transfers from Andy Burnham, Ed Balls and Diane Abbott.

Left Foot Forward understands that Sheila Gilmore, the Labour MP for Edinburgh East who originally nominated Diane Abbott, is also holding a primary of Labour Party members and strong Labour voters to determine who she should vote for and transfer to, while Anthony Painter has just tweeted that Dudley North will also be holding a primary.

UPDATE 13.45:

Responding the Bassetlaw primary, Ed Miliband told a press conference, “You win some, you lose some”. Claiming the support of “about 150 constituency Labour parties”, over 60 MPs and several trade unions, at those close of nominations, Mr Miliband said:

“I’m not the candidate for an easy life: one more heave with some of the new Labour dogmas of the past. If you want that, I’m not your man.”

http://twitter.com/jessica_asato/status/19569065527 Jessica Asato

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/paulsandars/status/19569090078 Paul Sandars

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/progressonline/status/19569405174 ProgressOnline

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/ciphergoth/status/19569515483 Paul Crowley

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/bencooper86/status/19569699444 Ben Cooper

RT @Progressonline: RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/slsutcliffe/status/19569800778 Sophie Sutcliffe

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/johnrentoul/status/19569808227 John Rentoul

John Mann MP switches from Ed to David Miliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/liza_harding/status/19569866769 Liza Harding

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
Nicolas

Balloting using FPTP rather than AV? Rididulous.
http://twitter.com/micpayne/status/19569945651 Michael Payne

John Mann MP switches from Ed to @DMiliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B #DM4Leader
http://twitter.com/olliehyams/status/19570019482 Oliver Hyams

RT @JohnRentoul: John Mann MP switches from Ed to David Miliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/philcane/status/19570463501 Philip Cane

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/sowadally/status/19570553706 Stewart Owadally

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/aliunwin/status/19570705970 Ali Unwin

brilliant!!–> UPDATE: "You win some, you lose some", says Ed M in response to Bassetlaw primary http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9 /via @leftfootfwd
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/19570769458 Shamik Das

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://twitter.com/naushabahkhan/status/19571014643 Naushabah Khan

RT @Progressonline: RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from @ed_miliband to @dmiliband after balloting members: http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://billyblofeld.wordpress.com Billy Blofeld

Good old John Mann. He has been a great inspiration to me.
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/19571353162 Shamik Das

@anthonypainter Cheers mate! Just updated http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B @leftfootfwd
http://twitter.com/alystarrzan/status/19571622140 Alys Tarr

RT @micpayne: John Mann MP switches from Ed to @DMiliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B #D …
http://twitter.com/p_e_owen/status/19571680829 Peter Owen

RT @leftfootfwd: UPDATE: "You win some, you lose some", says Ed M in response to Bassetlaw primary http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/johnwillman/status/19573621744 John Willman

RT @leftfootfwd: "You win some, you lose some", says Ed M in response to Bassetlaw primary http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9 Labour members should note!
http://twitter.com/bizandpolitics/status/19573750275 Business&Politics

RT @JohnWillman: RT @leftfootfwd:"You win some, you lose some", Ed M response to Bassetlaw primary http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9 Labour members note!
http://twitter.com/judyk113/status/19578027256 judyk113

RT @JohnRentoul John Mann MP switches from Ed to David Miliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B
http://bestblogs.labourhome.org/2010/07/26/labour-mp-switches-from-ed-to-david-after-balloting-members/ Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members « The best Labour blogs

[...] More… [...]
http://twitter.com/polly_the_cat/status/19578636096 Polly Sands

@DavidLammy numbers are in here: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/07/labour-mp-switches-from-ed-to-david-after-balloting-members/
http://twitter.com/ayse_veli/status/19580525679 Ayse Veli

RT @micpayne: John Mann MP switches from Ed to @DMiliband after balloting Labour supporters in his constituency http://bit.ly/9sCZ5B #D …
http://twitter.com/blairmcdougall/status/19584393608 Blair McDougall

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/blairmcdougall/status/19584412949 Blair McDougall

55% of second preferences in Bassetlaw went to @dmiliband interesting http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/slsutcliffe/status/19584704361 Sophie Sutcliffe

RT @blairmcdougall: 55% of second preferences in Bassetlaw went to @dmiliband interesting http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/ayse_veli/status/19584705843 Ayse Veli

RT @blairmcdougall: 55% of second preferences in Bassetlaw went to @dmiliband interesting http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/ayse_veli/status/19584711668 Ayse Veli

RT @blairmcdougall: RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/judyk113/status/19589042412 judyk113

Even better; John Mann's switch from Ed Mili to D Mili was based on a genuine primary of 5,000 Labour voters. Attn MPs! http://bit.ly/9Wgh33
http://twitter.com/huwogmoremp/status/19606820197 Huw Irranca-Davies

RT @blairmcdougall: RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
John77

David Miliband got an absolute majority of first preferences and you think it is necessary to look at how many second and third preferences he got in order to determine the winner!
What form of alternative voting system do you support?
http://twitter.com/chuzzlit/status/19629012798 Alison Charlton

@DAaronovitch Primaries make what has been a pretty dull campaign, interesting. MP switches support: Left ft fwd http://bit.ly/9Wgh33
housecarl

As a former foreign secretary and rumoured challenger to Gordon Brown, David Miliband has a much higher profile than any of the other candidates. Therefore it was obvious that he would win a wider primary amongst voters who have n’t been very engaged with the leadership campaign and probably don’t know comparatively little about E Miliband, Balls, Burnham or Abbot.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that in 4 years time the electorate would prefer him to other potential party leaders, or that he’d be best for the party. I can’t imagine that a relative nobody like David Cameron would have had much chance of winning a Tory Primary back in 2005.

That doesn’t make primaries – or David Miliband’s victory – redundant, but it does mean they should be taken with a pinch of salt.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/07/clp-nominations-reinforce-mps-endorsements/ CLP nominations reinforce MPs’ endorsements | Left Foot Forward

[...] most important example of a switcher CLP was David Miliband’s victory in the Bassetlaw primary, because it also converted John Mann MP’s own vote. None of the other CLP nominations carry [...]
http://twitter.com/will8ace/status/19649702193 Will

"Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members" – http://tinyurl.com/2uhxdqq
http://twitter.com/bencooper86/status/19651155539 Ben Cooper

RT @judyk113: Even better; John Mann's switch from Ed Mili to D Mili was based on a genuine primary of 5,000 Labour voters. Attn MPs! http://bit.ly/9Wgh33
http://twitter.com/aaronk28/status/19652469075 Aaron Kumar

RT @judyk113: Even better; John Mann's switch from Ed Mili to D Mili was based on a genuine primary of 5,000 Labour voters. Attn MPs! http://bit.ly/9Wgh33
http://twitter.com/mary_galbraith/status/19656416591 Mary Galbraith

I find this compelling: Both the overwhelming result for David Miliband; and the inclusive process.
http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9
http://twitter.com/talktone/status/19755819498 TlakTone

RT @leftfootfwd: Labour MP switches from Ed to David after balloting members http://bit.ly/9ZMPl9