One thing that I am sure that the Sky party at my conference was high on was gossip. Reporters such as Nick Robinson, Laura Kuenssberg and Adam Boulton would have been interested in the psychodynamics of the relationship between David Miliband and Ed Miliband. There’s no hiding the fact that the Ed supporters were jubilant. At best, Ed Miliband is ‘Red Ed’, despite the fact that most experienced political journalists converge on the notion that Ed is more right-wing than people first imagine, and likewise David is more left-wing than you would expect. Whatever purported media-zappy ‘rifts’, this is nothing compared to Brown and Blair, and while the idea of a Mandy media seems cute, no pseudo-Machiavellian candidates have emerged from the wings.
I met Audrey outside the conference centre aka Starbucks yesterday. A very nice lady from Kent who’s Labour (and socialist) through-and-through. She had received a setback originally that John O’Donnell was not able to stand, but quickly Her badges on her lapelle though gave away her loyalties, quite possibly.
The sore message for the reporters that we have a strong history in the Unions, that we are proud of. Ed Miliband was backed by his unions, but so were the other candidates. Welcome to the Labour Party sunshine! The thing is Ed and David are likely to wish to destigmatise membership of the Unions, and emphasise how the Unions serve as the important interface between workers and their management. This is a critical issue in modern corporate governance, and anyone who knows the history of this save for the psychodrama headline grabbing antics of Lord Myners, will know that modern English corporate governance introduced non-executive directors for that reason.
Sure, there are members of my party who are jubilant, and really pleased that Ed won. I have previously set out my reasons for doing so. If David Miliband wishes to leave the Shadow Cabinet, that is his decision, and there is no doubt he could get a lucrative job elsewhere, such as in Europe. Others have tweeted to me this is a personal decision that is essentially a personal decision as well as one for our party; it’s up-to-him to decide. Ed Miliband has made his views known, and you can’t say fairer than that.
Meanwhile, Ed Miliband will be seeking to govern the country as well as the Party (and the Unions). As Tim Horton, Research Director for the Fabian Society, has advised, major policy issues await for the rejuvenated Labour Party, in an article “How to win on values”. These issues include immigration, benefit fraud, localism and diversity in public services. However, there is no doubt that Ed will wish to seek out some clues as to his response to the banking crisis, the future of banking regulation, poverty, inequality, and the unions, if his campaign is anything to do by.
