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Ed Miliband shouldn’t have won—but it might work out anyway

by David Goodhart / September 25, 2010 / Leave a comment
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The right Labour leader?

The right Labour leader?

Has the Labour party condemned itself to 15 years in opposition by electing Ed Miliband? That is the consensus of the commentariat—and for once it may be right.

The manner of his election, thanks to all those union activist votes, makes matters worse. And there was already a big problem with Ed’s inexperience, his north London Guardian-ish instincts and his poor record as a decision-taker. He will be massacred in much of the mainstream media and may react badly to that. But perhaps those of us who want to see an electable Labour party should not despair. Ed does have flair and who is to say he can’t learn on the job and surprise us all. His communication skills are sometimes exaggerated but he can connect with audiences, young ones especially.

And, alas poor David, he is a highly intelligent man and by all accounts a capable minister, but he has proved himself a political loser (even before the leadership vote) and his public persona is still oddly synthetic, his words too well prepared. He is a big political brain but somehow not quite right for the top job. If Ed makes him shadow chancellor and they can work together as a team—surely not impossible after the dust has settled—it may prove a surprisingly effective combination.

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Comments

  1. Kieron Flanagan
    September 25, 2010 at 21:50
    David, I presume that your use of 'union activists' instead of the more accurate 'union members' was an oversight caused by time pressure?
  2. David Herman
    September 27, 2010 at 09:19
    Yes, absolutwely right on all counts. There are causes for concern but also grounds for optimism. A shadow cabinet led by both Milibands, Ed Balls, Alan Johnson, Hilary Benn, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, perhaps Alastair Darling returning,will be formidable, covering all the main positions with quality figures. What needs reassessing is the whole election procedure -- a ridiculously exhausting campaign, following a tough election camapign, has left four key figures exhausted before the Autumn is even udner way; breaking the Party into three core groups is a nonsense in a modern democracy and creates exactly the problem that has now arisen -- division and recrimination between the unions and other groups; and to cap it all some grey anonymous party apparatchik announcing the results. If Labour can't run its own election properly, why should anyone think it can run the country?

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David Goodhart
David Goodhart is Director of the Integration Hub at the Policy Exchange think tank and founding editor of Prospect Magazine
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