How red is Ed? 28, September 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in UK.Tags: David Milliband, Ed Milliband, How red is ed?, Labour leadership election, Left wing politics in the UK, New Laboue, New Labour
5 comments
The Guardian has an excellent little distraction in the form of an interactive “How Red is Ed?” swingometer.
For those out you outwith the UK, the Labour Party has just elected a new leader. The favorite for most of the summer-long campaign, David Milliband, just lost out to his brother Ed Milliband. The vote in the end was close, with Ed winning by a fraction on the alternative voting system. As it turns out, this means that Ed is, effectively, many people’s second or third choice. But because he got more such secondary votes than his brother, he won.
Ed is seen as being much more to the left than his Blarite, New Labour brother. This was confirmed when the votes were case and Ed won thanks in large part to the Union vote. This perturbs some people. Any lurch to the left will surely consign Labour to a longer wait for power: in the UK, as with most places, I suppose, elections are won in the center. Ed, therefore, needs to carefully craft his message not to antagonize his lefty-Union supporters while proving unequivocally that he is not there at their direct behest.
The Gulf blog 