Exclusive Prospect poll of "wavering" MPs
Faced with characteristically impatient questioning by John Humphrys this morning, David Miliband said of his brother Ed: “I am happy to say he is the best man to lead Labour into the next election.” The comments, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, may have been forced by Humphrys’s grilling. But it appears that despite the media speculation about Ed’s performance in recent months, David was right when he added that Ed “will lead Labour into the next election.” That message is echoed by some—limited but illuminating—exclusive private polling among Labour MPs by Prospect.
The only practical threat to Ed’s leadership would be if Labour MPs begin to worry enough about losing their seats at the next general election to move against their leader. We know from his decision to stand against his elder brother that Ed is deceptively ruthless and unlikely to stand
Simon
David, for better or worse, will never be leader.
He has failed twice to become leader – once in 2007 when he failed to stand and again in 2010 when he came close. The public do not like losers – with David at the helm too it would have been far too easy for the Conservative government to attack past Labour, he cannot escape having been in one of the top three jobs in government. If Ed Miliband fails to win at the enxt election it will be for a younger person to take over – skip a generation. David should retire to an elder statesman role – maybe take a seat in Lords if constiteuncy work is too tiresome for him, he certainly seems to like the outside interests given the number of boards he is on.