It seems that President (sorry Prime Minister) Blair is on his way out so who would make a good successor?
At first it seems obvious that Gordon Brown will walk any Labour Party election. But will he?
Firstly there will be some who will find his behaviour at the moment appalling. Doesn't he remember the disunity that brought 18 years of Conservative rule? There is no point winning the leadership election if he leads the party to oblivion. Brown loyalists are obviously out to oust Blair and with their Masters connivance.
Secondly Brown is Scottish. Now that we have devolution will it be acceptable to have a PM introducing laws on one part of the country when his own constituents will be exempt? The current cabinet is Scot heavy.
Thirdly Brown is heavily associated with Blair. New Labour is as much his idea. Will the public believe it a change?
Anyway I'm not convinced by Brown. Everything that happened in Iraq happened with his full knowledge and consent.
The alternatives? John Reid, well he's not Brown. Ok he's Scottish but he is different to Blair and Cameron. Gruff abrasive. Jack Straw? OK was the foreign secretary, Iraq and all that BUT has openly opposed military action in Iran. Seen by some as deposed by Bush.
I reckon they should skip a generation, how about Hilary Benn the Development secretary? Alan Johnson at Trade & Industry? David Milliband?
Milliband and Benn have left wing parents. Johnson is a former postman. All are modernisers.
If it was down to me Brown's behaviour would not be rewarded.
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I'm with you about skipping a generation - for me Hilary Benn would be ideal. He is principled, diplomatic, but passionate about the things that matter to him, and he seems to have the compassion his father often displays. Benn would be good at handling domestic matters, and would have enough tact to undo some of the damage Blair has done to Britain's relations with other countries.
However, I do think Brown will be elected, if not him then John Reid. I get the feeling Jack Straw is seen as too much of a loose cannon to get the support of the party.
ps: If you want to come up with a list of potential candiates, I'll set up a poll and we can have our own election.
Of course, it won't be representative, but I'd be interested to see the results.
Brown has been lucky.
Despite public confidence in New Labour plummeting, the public seem to trust him. Alongside in the plummeting confidence in New Labour, is the rise in the need for social justice action - particularly in relation to poverty and the environment.
Hopefully Brown can take advantage of the public's trust in him, to redefine Labour's values.
I enjoyed reading your blog - I've made a few comments on the Labour leadership in my blog if you fancy having a read and leaving a comment :)
President blair....glad someone else sees things as me. I'm not too sure about Brown, he is probably more acceptable to Bono and those who believe in debt relief, and i also agree with his mission to rebuild a sense of national pride ( ie one where we can be proud to be british but not align ourselves with the barmy bnp fascists)- apart from that i can't see what he stands for and why he would be electable. If i was a political pundit i would be really scratching my head right now to think of possible challengers which is a very sad state of affairs for the labour party. What's more it's all making cameron and co looking a heck of alot more electable. Whoever succeeds blair needs to have atleast two clear missions. 1. they need to be somebody who can repair the rifts, the conservatives showed us in the 90's that a party riven with in fighting is un electable. 2. they need to be someone who can really clarify the position of the labour party ideology wise- who can honestly say what they stand for these days? It comes to something if comparatively the conservatives are looking more acceptable to those of us with left wing tendencies.
Pippa
Hi Pippa nice to see you popping in. I've heard people say we voted for Blair.
ARGH!!
No you didn't you voted for an MP, you do not vote for a Prime Minister. You give a mandate to the Party not the PM!!
I do wish people would take the effort to understand our democracy.
"Alongside in the plummeting confidence in New Labour, is the rise in the need for social justice action - particularly in relation to poverty and the environment."
Definitely! I suppose they have done more in these areas than previous governments but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Thank you for your kind comments about our little blog - I'll pop over and have a read of yours.
Pippa - I received an email from someone who wanted to respond to your comment but didn't feel comfortable about doing so in public (they do have a valid reason for maintaining an anonymous status) Anyhow, I am posting the comment for them:
COMMENT BELOW
I think its a mistake to refer to them as the extreme right. the thing is that on many issues they are left wing! that's what people don't understand, that's why people switch from Labour to the BNP.
have a look at this
http://www.politicalcompass.org/extremeright
it makes interesting reading.
They are offering a different message to all the other parties and that's why they attract support. You and I may not like part of there message but much of it is appealing to certain parts of society
I'm now commenting on the last comment LOL
The page the link takes you to does explain the political position of the BNP well. During the last general election they had a candidate standing in a neighbouring seat. A friend who lives there showed me one of the leaflets they had pushed through her letterbox, and it was quite worrying. Not because of the usual immigration crap, but because of their policies on matters such as health, crime, education which were all laid out in a way that made it easy to understand why some people would find them appealing. So many traditional Labour voters feeling that they have been left by the wayside, and the BNP are making a determined effort to pick up those votes.
'The usual Immigration crap'? Well there's an attitude that's really gonna help stop them isnt it...for BNP voters (potential or otherwise)the 'other' policies arent the bread and butter, they are just the icing on the cake.
If you want to stop the BNP winning seats, put your case for mass immigration. Every time you dismiss concerns over that issue as 'the usual crap' and fail to do so, you are handing them votes because the people reading it won't listen to someone who doesnt actually have anything to say...
Well, I wasn't aware I was supposed to be making a case for not voting for the BNP, I was making a personal comment to a friend (who wouldn't dream of voting for them) about why they aren't necessarily a right wing party. If I happen to think their policies about immigration are crap I am entitled to say so on my own blog.
Secondly, why do think I wish to make a case for mass immigration?
And finally, yes they do get much of their support because of the policies mentioned above, but in recent years they have attempted to modernise in order to attract people who in the past would not have considered voting for them. One of the ways they have done this is by the introduction of more coherant policies covering health, education etc. I can't comment on the reasons for their success in other parts of the country, but in this area many of the people who voted for them (not a huge number they only amassed around 400 votes) did so because they were prepared to overlook their 'traditional' ideas and concentrate on (what they felt were) old Labour ideals.
Hey Kate,
Thanks for stopping by the DSD Blog - and you're right, the Nazis can't read all that well though they appear to have taken the hint about not bothering with their diseased blatherings so far...
I'm intrigued by your comment that you arent making the case for mass immigration but that the BNP talk crap on it. Where do you actually stand?
The general consensus here seems clearly to be pro-Labour. I've just started a little 'I am your floating voter' thing over on the DSD Blog, would love some input from you guys because for what I would think are obvious reasons I dont get many visits from Leftwing types unless its to call me names.
PS Do you think I should gently break it to all the Nazis that I'm not actually Jewish or would it break their little hearts to have wasted all those racial insults?
"Do you think I should gently break it to all the Nazis that I'm not actually Jewish or would it break their little hearts to have wasted all those racial insults?"
LOL They probably wouldn't believe you, I mean, why would you like Jews if you weren't one. I'm basing this on the bigots I have met online who have decided that I must be everything from African to Jewish to American to Japanese simply because I refused to prejudge an entire nation or culture.
Where do I stand on immigration? Well, I don't think we should have mass immigration of the 'open the doors and let anyone in' mode, I don't think a country on earth does that, it wouldn't make sense. I know our immigration system is criticsed for being too liberal but people aren't allowed to just arrive on a plane and become British citizens, whatever the tabloids say.
On the other hand, I don't believe that we should have no immigration at all. Over the centuries immigrants have made a valuable contribution to this country (I'm of immigrant stock myself - 3 parts Irish and 1 part French) I went to school with Polish, Jewish (German and Czech), Italian, Spanish, Cuban and Indian kids whose parents and grandparents worked hard and had a positive impact on the places they lived and worked. At the moment we have skills shortages in various areas, and it seems logical that if people with the skills we need want to come here we should let them.
I'm not sure if we are all pro-Labour - two team members are from the US and one soon to be member is an American who lives in Sweden, so they certainly aren't. I'm old Labour and I don't like the state of the party now, but I can't speak for Spadger, Steg or Matt. Reading their posts, I would say they aren't big Tory voters but the current Labour party don't seem to be top of their Christmas card list either.
I'll pop over and have a look at your floating voter thing. I'll add you to the blogroll too, it might send a few more people your way.
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