Labour leadership
Miliband hampered by Labour’s ongoing vacuum
Time is against Ed Miliband: there is a void where there should be a new shadow chancellor. The party leadership cannot refine its arguments ahead of next month’s spending review,… Continue reading
24 CommentsThe speech that David Miliband would have given on Saturday?
Caveats about positioning after the event, of course, but Andrew Pierce’s account of the speech that David Miliband would have given on Saturday is still worth noting down: "You could… Continue reading
14 CommentsThe penny drops
David Miliband is a tease. The speech he just gave was one of his best: it was self-deprecating, had gravitas, humour, and he spoke down to the Tories, telling William… Continue reading
32 CommentsThe defeated brother delivers a winning speech
David Miliband’s address to the Labour conference ended as it began: with a standing ovation. Sentimentality and sympathy, perhaps – but it was also deserved. This was a speech that… Continue reading
14 CommentsWhy Ed Miliband shouldn’t be underestimated
There is a feeling on the right that with the election of Ed Miliband it is back to the good old days. The thinking goes that Labour have elected a… Continue reading
57 CommentsThe Whelan factor
Is Ed Miliband is in cahoots with the unions? My guess is that he will have to be – and perhaps is – more centrist than all that. But, in… Continue reading
15 CommentsLabour’s subdued response to Miliband’s victory
There’s an odd mood in Manchester at the moment. The leadership election result has discombobulated the Labour establishment. In some circles, there is irritation that union votes delivered the leadership… Continue reading
18 CommentsEd Miliband tries to detoxify his brand
The scrubbing job starts in earnest this morning, as Ed Miliband tries to erase that "Red" epithet from before his name. Exhibit A was his appearance on the Andrew Marr… Continue reading
29 CommentsThe dignity of David Miliband
We spend a lot of time criticising politicians so it behoves us to praise one when they behave with as much dignity as David Miliband has today. He has lost… Continue reading
71 CommentsThe aftermath of Labour’s contest
As soon as the first round result popped up the screen, an expert on the Labour electoral college turned to me and said ‘Ed has won’. David was not far… Continue reading
19 CommentsWill Ed Miliband face facts?
I knew that David Miliband had lost the moment I saw him walk in the room, smiling like Michael Portillo on election night 1997. And when I saw Ed Balls… Continue reading
39 CommentsThe unions deliver Ed Miliband to the throne
In the end, it was all quite exciting. After four months of soporific campaigning, after a speech by Gordon Brown, after tribute video upon tribute video, it all came down… Continue reading
24 CommentsEd Miliband elected Labour leader: live blog
1704, PH: We’ll leave it there, although we’ll have more reaction on Coffee House shortly. 1702, PH: I’ve already forgotten Miliband’s final line, although it involved the phrase "new generation".… Continue reading
25 CommentsThe real battle begins tomorrow
So what’s all the fuss about today, then? Ah, yes, the election of the new Labour leader. We should know the result around 1640 this afternoon – but, this morning,… Continue reading
6 CommentsIt’s all over
The word here in Westminster is that the result of the Labour leadership contest has been certified. The significance of this is that it means the result is not close… Continue reading
11 CommentsDavid Miliband preparing for defeat
There are rumours swirling around Westminster, supposedly issuing from the elder Miliband’s camp, that David Miliband already knows he’s lost. As we know, he has said he will serve loyally… Continue reading
20 CommentsEd Balls steps up his bid for the shadow chancellorship
With the result but a day away, there’s plenty of radio chatter about the Labour leadership election this morning. The Guardian reports that MiliD will work for MiliE if he… Continue reading
13 CommentsMili-monomania
No doubt attempting to affect affability and languid charm, one of the Milibands has goaded his team into mastering a hybrid of semaphore and tic-tac to bring him early news… Continue reading
8 CommentsThe ballot closes
"Quietly confident." That’s how Diane Abbott felt as the Labour leadership ballot entered its final hours today. I can only assume that she meant "…of victory," but the bookies, and… Continue reading
12 CommentsWhy David Miliband is the most dangerous candidate for the coalition
Now how’s this for an opinion? Writing for Labour Uncut, Dan Hodges announces that David Miliband has won the Labour leadership contest. His piece starts: "This Saturday David Miliband will… Continue reading
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