Most members of the Labour Party (like the MPs) voted for David Miliband ahead of his brother and successful leadership candidate Ed. It's tempting to see this as a shift to the right on the part of the members, but we do need to remember the last time they were given the chance to elect a leader they choose Tony Blair so that would have to be some shift!
However, a lesser noticed election was taking place at the same time as all these other exciting outward facing posts like Mayor of London and Leader of the Party. Yes, the members were also electing six members of their NEC.
I believe each member has six votes in this election and, of the winning candidates, the results were;
Ken Livingstone: 88,235
Oona King: 64,004
Ann Black: 59,200
Ellie Reeves: 45,481
Christine Shawcroft: 44,338
Luke Akehurst: 30,825
Obviously, with a girlish giggle, you look at Ken's name at the top and do a happy little dance. But more to the point the members have actually elected more candidates from the right of the party than they normally do with Luke Akehurst and Oona King both in the winners' circle.
Oona's vote is particularly impressive and shows that the Mayoral result will not be her death knell in politics, more's the pity. I've a lot more time for Mr Akehurst who expresses his politics honestly and works hard for candidates of the left even when he clearly disagrees with them. He'll be a hard working and competant member of the NEC I don't doubt.
That doesn't change the fact that the members appear to have shifted to the right and good left wingers like Susan Press who, in earlier years, may well have been elected were unable to muster enough support this time round.
Perhaps this is all Kremlinology or reading the entrails of birds but it seems to me that the NEC results may well indicate that the right are slowly but surely strangling what little remains of the left in the party.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Is Labour moving to the right?
Labels: Labour
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7 comments:
"I've a lot more time for Mr Akehurst who expresses his politics honestly" - that's one way of putting it....!
Matt
Jim,
When you get back you won't forget your promise to write something on the Greens and the working group on antisemtism, specifically what happened?
Matt: he has a clarity of vision - even if I find his vision to be a dystopian nightmare :)
Mod: I can answer that now. Thw working group was disbanded because certain members of it came to the group with such a dogmatic and rigid position that it was unable to function meaningfully.
It was replaced by a two person group who are submitting a report soon I believe. I'll get to read this report when it comes out and am 'looking forward to it' if that is the right phrase.
Jim,
You said you'd give "a more thoughtful comment on this later"
That frankly doesn't make it any clearer than before.
"the NEC results may well indicate that the right are slowly but surely strangling what little remains of the left in the party"
Yes, but EM has declared the death of New Labour, repudiated Iraq, etc, and liberal/left members who left over Iraq are rejoining at the rate of one per minute (supposedly).
So the party may gradually be detoxified?
To quote Kevin Keegan, I am personally loving it to see all the "old generation" D Miliband-supporting war crims like Mandelson, Straw etc aging to a million years old in five seconds flat and then crumbling utterly into dust.
Maybe their "grown in a laboratory" camp followers in CLPs will in time follow them out, as they start to be destroyed by exposure to daylight and oxygen?
Mod: just answering the specific question you put. The working group was dysfunctional due to immovable objects on both sides so a new group was set up.
Strat: I think the hope is that Ed detoxifies the party - but the problem is that his stance against the war is about moving on, not changing the character of the party.
I don't Ed is the person to deal with the 'grown in as lab' tendency.
The key thing is how will he perform - and currently that's slightly unknowable.
Certainly the members voted for David, for rightwingers onto the NEC and even most of the right voted for Ken because he can win the Mayoralty
"The working group was dysfunctional due to immovable objects on both sides so a new group was set up."
Jim,
What does that mean?
It is opaque.
Please, please, do be a bit clearer on this matter.
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