The Milibandwagon: Ed or David? David or Ed?

Personally I much prefer the brother they never talk about. The Steve Milliband....

but - purely in political terms in terms of who might make the best leader - Eds style would be less grating to other cabinet members, he would probably be more incluvive of others' views and therefore more consensus building, so would make a better leader overall.

I have had the pleasure of being in a room with both of them on seperate occasions and have watched and listened to both . David is the sharper,(more arrogant?), one, a very clever man, and Ed is probably more 'empathetic. more of a peo ple person. preference - in terms of sex appeal - David for me please!

"Could Mandelson still sneak in, even though he's Lord now?"

Please god no! I really will leave the country if he ever becomes PM. That speech when he got voted out was seriously scary.

I did like the way Justine stepped in and shouted in the erole of the single "heckler". Terrible double standards.

I like the fact that is was civilised.

Sadly having a track record and being qualified are no longer seen as essentials for leading major political parties. Therefore, Ed gets my vote as he is rather handsome and gives good web chat.

Dittany, I defintely agree that neither Ed nor David is PM material yet, and possibly not even in the future. Could Mandelson still sneak in, even though he's Lord now? He seemed rather affronted at being referred to as a poobah on the Today programme this morning . I have a soft spot for Alan Johnson.

However, I still don't think that many people go out of their way to find out about politicians though, at least not further than what they read in their paper or hear on the news. Same on every level of politics from parish/town to national.

Swedington, I agree that a hung parliament would be awful. It will lead to decison-making being paralysed and tough decisons being fudged again and again. Majority rule is the only way to get things done without endless compromise. Even if you don't like the colour of the politics. I've worked at a 'No Overall Control' council - it just causes problems.

I like Harriet Harman, but is it gender or is it generation?

We can look at track records Dittany, but unfortunately very few people do. It's very frustrating, especially now that there's more transparency on voting records etc. and the internet making it so much easier to find these things out. People take it all for granted, and I'm as guilty as the next person.

Ed or David? Ed.
But....

Although I think he's Labour's best crack at a further term in office there is a danger that the public will resent yet another PM they didn't choose. If they are going to do it they need to do it soon. They should send in the stalking horse immediately and get the whole thing over with.

And aren't Labour closing the gap in the polls, or was that a rogue poll? Might it look like Labour imploding just as things are looking marginally less grim.

I don't think anyone is talking about Labour winning now, not even Labour politicians.

I think a hung parliament would be dreadful for us all.

My DH thinks that DM looks like Curious George - it's the banana wot did it

You say Harriet H has ruled herself out. No more than the Miliband brothers have ruled themselves out.

I think that more and more MPs are working their way into goverment through the policy system - and it means a more homogenous attitude towards politics and policies. If all you know is the party machine and the Westminster Village, I think it can be hard to emphasise with people out in the 'real world'.

Dittany - the power of connection. Unfortunately, it's always been who you know before what you know.

On the Ed vs David question. I think that David is unfortunate in being Foreign Secretary becuse he is tainted with Iraq/Afghanistan and other controversial foreign policy. Ed's job is less troublesome in that respect.

I say, Alan Johnson for Labour Leader with Harriet Harman deputising. He's the man for the job! Might even make me think about voting for them in the next election

(snorts at 'giant gay stick insect' a couple of my ex-boyfs fit nicely into that category, must be my type )

The great British public are not going to vote for electoral reform. Sadly. There will be too much 'blah blah, strong government, blah blah bloody continentals, blah blah BNP' in the public debate.

I also agree with policywonk that Harman is unelectable due to the unholy alliance of men who call her 'harperson' whilst smirking annoyingly and those frustrating women who for some reason will never vote for a woman (don't talk to me about Thatcher, she doesn't count).

God I'm an awful wet blanket.

On the subject of career politicians, I'm with pw again, common sense is distributed evenly across professions, the main problem is it's distributed pretty thinly. No reason to think a politician would make a worse pm than a postman. Now a postman turned politician...

Dittany, when you say Miliband Major, do you mean David (the elder of the two brothers) or their father Ralph Miliband? Both of them would definitely know about the roots of the Labour Party.

Ralph was an famous left wing political theorist and one of his books was a 'must read' for students of politics in the 1970s,1980s and possibly beyond. David was very much into the Labour party from a relatively young age - he carried around a copy of the party's manifesto (and knew the contents of it!) at school in 1983 so I cannot imagine that he did not know basic facts about the Party.

"How does ten years of middle management in Wernham Hogg trump bucketloads of relevant experience?"

A lot more MPs would have known that taking the piss with your expense account leads to getting the sack.

agree absolutely PW, re career politicians.

Oh hang on, now I'm confused - are we talking about as a potential next Labour leader, or the other thing . 'Cos my answers would be different y'know!