Ed Miliband...

I think having a "disposable" leader, which Ed M is proving to be, could actually be quite useful just to be at the helm whist the party reviews its ethos and policies. There is however no sign of a set of policies emerging. I understand that full costed policies might only be formulated closer to the end of the term of this Parliament, but I would have expected more of a sense of direction by now.

I completely agree that the 'bonus tax' shennanigans are not helping them at all. Unfunded spending is not a viable approach. And they appear to have nothing - and no-one - else on offer.

I liked Alan Johnson and thought it such a shame that he resigned due to marriage problems as he was looking like an obvious leader.

As many have said, Ed Milliband is a disaster, I detest Ed Balls and his insipid wife Yvette Cooper. I quite like Harriett Harman but I think she is a bit Marmite...and I can't think of anyone else! They have got no chance in the next election.

As a leader Ed is pretty damn poor. His performance on TV (and that's what we're all judging him on) are very poor and is totally outclassed by Cameron. Like MrsArchie says, he's obviously sticking to scripted soundbites and unable to vary.

Labour under his leadership now for over a year still have no real credible policies. Yes, there's the temporary VAT cut which is rubbish really. The last one barely had any effect on the public in real terms but lost the treasury millions. Oh and the often repeated 'one off' banker's bonus tax which should be very popular with the general public except it's a tax which seems to pay for whatever the popular message of the day is. A while back on MN it was to pay for new housing, now recently it was to pay for youth unemployment.

Unfortunately they are giving the impression that they still want to spend spend spend and as a result are simply not credible.

The coalition should be about as popular as a fart in a lift around about now but thanks to Labour's own incompetence unless something changes, they are still in with a fair chance of a second term. Well the Conservatives are....not so sure about Lib Dems!

And for that debacle, the buck has to stop with Ed Miliband.

I agree with the O/P about the two Ed's. Unfortunately, the reds don't have a huge reserve of untarnished talent to fall back on - even John Hutton is a member of the House of Lords, making a Prime Ministerial bid unlikely. I believe that had they lived, Labour could have reformed themselves around either Mo Mowlam or Robin Cook. If I had to pick anyone, I?d go for Alistair Darling who, despite being Chancellor at perhaps the worst time in modern history, behaved with dignity and restraint despite being consistently undermined by his hapless PM. I hope history is kinder to Darling and wish that the bone headed Brown had listened to him a bit more. We would still have a financial crisis but Browns scorched earth policy wouldn't have exacerbated it so much.

One of the obvious problems facing Labour is the schism between the Blairites and the Brownites. This showed itself in the election that the Brownite Ed Milliband won (at the expense of his Blairite brother, David) and explains why Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper are so highly regarded by certain elements of the party to the bewilderment of the wider public at large.

Labour need a compromise candidate who can unite the two halves of the party (rather than just buy off the traditionalists with election success as Blair managed) around a new left wing philosophy which doesn't involve spending ever increasing amounts of money, whilst at the same time appealing to the public at large with a message that is economically credible. I think that this is an impossible task for anyone and that Labours best hope lies in waiting until the electorate are pig-sick of the Tories. Last time they used this tactic it took 18 years for them to win an election.

Perhaps another solution that should be considered may be the breaking up of the Labour party into the traditionalist, largely socialist, wing and the moderate, centrist and social democrat wing. Perhaps now is the time for a new SDP?

I admires Jihn Hutton. I didn't agree with him, in the main, by put he always struck me as someone with principles and someone who stuck to them.

(And any Labour MP reputed to have called Brown "a fucking disaster" as early as 2006 does seem to have their head screwed on better than most).

Can you name ANY politician EVER who sounds sincere and like they truley believe what they are scripted to say? I have yet to hear or see one that I have any faith in at all, from any party.