Posts tagged Ed Balls
Labour Party renewal – what next?
May 12th
As I’m getting over my disappointment that Alan Johnson won’t run for Labour leader I’m pondering what the future holds and how we can use the next few years to renew, regroup and refresh ourselves.
Firstly, we need a long leadership election. We don’t need to be hasty, Harriet will make a fine interim leader. My personal preference is for a leader that isn’t overly associated with the old Brownite/Blairite factional slips, which was always bigger in the media than it was in reality.
In opposition Labour can afford to have a vigorous and exciting policy debate that reminds us of our core values enshrined in the new Clause 4 of our rule book.
But, we shouldn’t stop at policy. Before we can do that properly I seriously believe we need root and branch reform of the Labour Party itself. We’re still based on party structure that has hardly changed for over a 100 years. This needs to change, to change fundamentally. We must question the very existence of branches, constituency parties, district parties, regional boards, the National Policy Forum and the NEC.
As for who to support as leader, I think it’s fool-hardy to start backing potential leaders before any have even officially declared. However, I can easily rule out Ed Balls for two reasons.
First and foremost he is far too divisive a figure and responsible for far too much that has gone wrong in the Labour Party. He simply cannot represent a fresh start for the party.
His style of politics, shown time and time again in TV interviews and speeches, is that of the playground bully. The problem with the Labour Party over the last few years, wasn’t just Brown, it was Balls.
Ed Balls represents the politics of the Twentieth Century, to borrow a slogan from the past we need to go forward, not back.
Secondly on a more mundane note, his majority is far to slim. We can not have a leader that will be subject to another ‘castration’ strategy. A new voting system won’t help Ed and a leader can’t do a chicken run.
In the absence of Alan Johnson on the ballot paper I’d like to see a candidate who will offer the party that opportunity for a totally fresh start and is open to embracing new ideas that emerge, not being hidebound or associated with policies from the past.
UPDATE:
If we didn’t win with the organ grinder, we won’t with the monkey. RT @stuartbruce: Labour Party renewal Not Ed Balls. http://bit.ly/bncgM6
Paul Richards
Labourpaul
Labour’s negotiating team with the Liberal Democrats – why Ed Balls?
May 11th
Labour’s team to negotiate with the Liberal Democrats isn’t exactly overwhelming.
Lord Mandelson I can understand. His cabinet position, his breadth of experience and the key role he has played in the last two years all mean he should be in the room.
Harriet Harman, not my favourite Labour politician, has earned the right to be at the table as she was elected to the role of Deputy Leader.
Lord Adonis as an ex Liberal Democrat who is now a senior Labour figure can provide a unique insight and help to find common ground.
Ed Miliband was the architect of Labour’s manifesto, so if we’re going to be negotiating changes is the obvious choice.
But why is Ed Balls on the team? I can’t think of a cabinet member less well qualified than Balls to be on the team. It can’t be his cabinet position, as education and families isn’t one of the huge areas of difference between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. It shouldn’t be that he’s a close confidant of Gordon Brown, as Ed Miliband can fulfil that role. What else could Ed be there for?
Can anyone enlighten me?
