Ed Milliband... on his way out?

[drew]

The political spectrum is in the worse mess that I can recall. Labour appear not to have a leader capable of putting sustained pressure on a tory government (yes, I will ignore the liberals) that makes u-turn after u-turn and and promotes ill thought out policy. This on the back of Cameron's failure to capitilise on Brown's abject failure as a leader by not winning a majority when he had been so far ahead in the polls. Unfortunately, it's the only system we have and by making the liberals sign up to a five year term as part of the coalition, even when things get worse than they are now we are stuck with them.

 

[Gwylan]

I can, when Michael Howard took over from Ian Duncan Smith, continuous criticisms of IDS performances and when Howard took over it was a coup de grace, with everyone backing Howard immediately as leader i.e there had been a stitch up behind IDS' back.

You're missing the point I made. Of course there have been whisperings about leaders before and PMs too (Wilson, Heath, Thatcher and Major all had whispering campaigns against them) but those were against a background of poor poll showings. I don't ever recall a situation where a party leader is nearly 10 points ahead in the polls and is still subject to the old "friends of" and "anonymous sources". I'm pretty sure that's unique.

 

[Bry Nylon]

Heard a whisper from a well placed source today that Labour grandees and senior union barons have given Ed till Conference to get his act together.

If he's still punching below his weight come the autumn he'll be asked to step aside, citing personal reasons...

No word yet who's in line for the job though.

Well, yesterday was Ed's defining day, his speech failed in every respect.

Apparently, the only thing that lifted senior Party spirits was the fact that live TV coverage on BBC and SKY failed part way through that disaster of a speech.

He has had one year since being elected leader and he still hasn't made any impression with the electorate. My source tells me that the possible alternatives are being sounded out....

 

[Gwylan]

Just seen this article in the Telegraph (of all places).

Labour Party Conference: like it or not, Ed Miliband has redefined the future of politics Telegraph Blogs

Oborne is far from being a centre-left writer and he finds plenty to praise in Milliband's speech.

I'm not a Labour voter but I think Milliband is the most interesting leader the party has had for decades. He seems to be developing some well-thought-out ideas and his attack on Murdoch was a bold one. It's earned him the enmity of News International though, which is why his conference speech attracted such criticism.

He's not a good speaker but does that matter? In my lifetime there have only been two PMs who were good speakers - Macmillan and Blair - the others have survived. Thatcher was a terrible public speaker yet won three elections. Milliband has some way to go but the caricature is a long way from the truth.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Certainly an interesting speech. I guess that the anti-business stance was for the Unions, who he will piss off later in the year when he doesn't back their strike plans.

I thought one of the most interesting things to come out was John Denham's (Shadow Secretary of State for Business) confirmation that not a single member of the Shadow Cabinet has ever run a business. How the hell would they be able to run the Country and balance the books?

 

[Simster]

Dear Labour Party,
Call me about a vote when your shadow cabinet have all f***ed off as they are pretty much ALL shit. Ed Balls, Ed Milliband, Yvette Cooper, Harriot Harmen. No talent whatsoever, just wooly, bullshitting rubbish.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Dear Labour Party,
Call me about a vote when your shadow cabinet have all f***ed off as they are pretty much ALL shit. Ed Balls, Ed Milliband, Yvette Cooper, Harriot Harmen. No talent whatsoever, just wooly, bullshitting rubbish.

Harman drives me mad. I'm all for equality, but she wants positive discrimination in favour of women, which is just as bad as negative.

 

[Gwylan]

Certainly an interesting speech. I guess that the anti-business stance was for the Unions, who he will piss off later in the year when he doesn't back their strike plans.

I thought one of the most interesting things to come out was John Denham's (Shadow Secretary of State for Business) confirmation that not a single member of the Shadow Cabinet has ever run a business. How the hell would they be able to run the Country and balance the books?

I don't think anyone from the Atlee cabinet of 1945 had a run a business either and that was one of the great governments.

Have any members of the coalition cabinet run a business? The real problem is not whether they've run a business but whether they have any experience of the real world outside think-tanks and political research. Far too many people (from all three parties) go into politics from an early age and know nothing else.

 

[Simster]

Harman drives me mad. I'm all for equality, but she wants positive discrimination in favour of women, which is just as bad as negative.

All I will say is that is a rare case of a senior Labour politician having an opinion or an idea on how to make things better - something that has been all too conspicuous in its absence this week, a week defined by cringeworthy speeches and clueless and transparent answer dodging.

 

[Biscuit]

Labour through and through but Ed's election was wrong. The Labour party need some direction and quick, the countries a better place with a decent opposition, and it'll be even better under a strong Labour Government.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

The countries a better place with a decent opposition

Absolutely. Whoever is in power you need a decent opposition to keep them on their toes. Whether Red, Blue, Yellow or pink with blue spots.

 

[Biscuit]

Absolutely. Whoever is in power you need a decent opposition to keep them on their toes. Whether Red, Blue, Yellow or pink with blue spots.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Labour through and through but Ed's election was wrong. The Labour party need some direction and quick, the countries a better place with a decent opposition, and it'll be even better under a strong Labour Government.

Disagree totally Ed was the right choice as he was the only one of the mainstream front runners to realise that New-Labour was part of the problem. If his brother had won, as so many of the lick-spittle tory-lite lackeys at the head of the party would have wanted, we would have been offered more of the same.

Quite frankly much of the labour party disgusts me, they are total and utter power hungry sellouts without an ounce of principle between them. I haven't seen one Ed detractor this week that wouldn't look out of place in the coalition. Tony has gone, the murderous and traitorous f**ker should be in prison, yet certain sections of the party pine after the days that he allowed them to get their snouts in public trough.

I quite like Ed, and no one can accuse him of peaking early, he still has time to come good with public, no rush just yet. It comes to something when Peter Oborne is the one commentator providing a balanced and considered view of the speech.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

This

 

[Simster]

Disagree totally Ed was the right choice as he was the only one of the mainstream front runners to realise that New-Labour was part of the problem. If his brother had won, as so many of the lick-spittle tory-lite lackeys at the head of the party would have wanted, we would have been offered more of the same.

Quite frankly much of the labour party disgusts me, they are total and utter power hungry sellouts without an ounce of principle between them. I haven't seen one Ed detractor this week that wouldn't look out of place in the coalition. Tony has gone, the murderous and traitorous f**ker should be in prison, yet certain sections of the party pine after the days that he allowed them to get their snouts in public trough.

I quite like Ed, and no one can accuse him of peaking early, he still has time to come good with public, no rush just yet. It comes to something when Peter Oborne is the one commentator providing a balanced and considered view of the speech.

I agree with nearly all of this. However, the problem for Labour is that Ed is or was the best option - he has no gravitas and is a shit public speaker.

 

[beorhthelm]

Just seen this article in the Telegraph (of all places).

Labour Party Conference: like it or not, Ed Miliband has redefined the future of politics Telegraph Blogs

Oborne is far from being a centre-left writer and he finds plenty to praise in Milliband's speech.

i think history will put Miliband Jnr in the same pot as Foot, at least from the point of view of not winning. while he does present a change of style, the content is thin. where there is any, its for a highly bureaucratic, arbitary intervention into business, on a case by case incoherent manner. its Blairs policy by focus group and newpaper reaction, but actually carrying through on every new pet issue and popular whim, without care for broader consequences. theres no strategy.

(interestingly, the exact opposite of the "big society" idea which a fine strategy once you get what its about, but no tactics or policy on how to get there)

 

[drew]

Certainly an interesting speech. I guess that the anti-business stance was for the Unions, who he will piss off later in the year when he doesn't back their strike plans.

I thought one of the most interesting things to come out was John Denham's (Shadow Secretary of State for Business) confirmation that not a single member of the Shadow Cabinet has ever run a business. How the hell would they be able to run the Country and balance the books?

Just remind me, what jobs have both CMD and George Osbourne done?

 

[peterward]

As a classic centrist floating voter, I could not vote for him...... he's a dull wet blanket, shortsighted schoolboy error not to have chosen his brother

 

[Gwylan]

its Blairs policy by focus group and newpaper reaction

You can say a lot of thing about the speech but this is way wide of the mark. If Milliband has been defined by one thing it's been by his determination to break with the Murdoch empire despite the fact that it will mean months, or years, of reaction in the Murdoch press.

He's the exact opposite of Blair who assiduously courted the media and who was a superb orator. Milliband is a terrible speaker and is Public Enemy No 1 to most newspapers. It's a very different approach to the way that politicians usually behave.

 

[Meade's Ball]

It's a shame that winning over those only partially interested in who governs them is purely in soundbyte and pictoral charm, and of course forging relationships with media bods who'll paint you saintly or devilish and unmentionable inbetween. The good thing is that Ed has changed/is changing parts of the Labour constitution making sure that it looks a little less union-run and allowing him to select his own shadow cabinet fully. With those behind him hand-selected it can seem more of a team, and possibly in the near future the terms blairite and brownite will become defunct. Without those two beasts of the successful and failing past hanging over him, he can make the party more his own and put together an unapologetic plan or two to fight financial hopelessness.
I haven't the greatest confidence in him and remain uncharmed when i see him on Andrew Marr and elsewhere, but i suppose he is a work in progress and might make good of himself with the right people around him. He just has to make the right friends in the right places and get to separate a look of smugness from an intended beguilement.