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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that David Miliband would have walked this?

93 replies

ApplePaltrow · 08/05/2015 05:45

I just can't help but think that if Ed Miliband had not been selfish and instead had thought of the country, this night would be going very differently.

Labour are blaming the tories, blaming UKIP, blaming everyone else. Isn't the reality that they shat away an incredible opportunity to define a political generation over stupid opportunistic selfishness? They thought that the tories would be so toxic that anyone could beat them. Such hubris! When you take electorate for granted, you get UKIP and the SNP.

It's not even like Ed Miliband was particularly left-wing in the end. Was it worth it???

I feel like this should be a wakeup call but instead the guardian etc are somehow painting this as a cameron loss. Unbelievable.

He MUST go. Bring back David.

OP posts:

Original poster

ApplePaltrow · 08/05/2015 06:37

eyebags63

if you really think like that, then no wonder labour are a mess. You can either respect people and try to connect with them even when you think they are wrong or secretly despise them but try to pander every once in a while.

If people want UKIP and the tories to keep winning, congrats! keep writing off the rest of the UK as racist or stupid or hateful. Don't try to engage with their disconnection and fears. Labour could have taken the lead and actually connected to those scared and unhappy voters. But that would have taken authenticity and leadership.

OP posts:

Hillingdon · 08/05/2015 06:45

As a strong Tory voter. When there is more money, there will more to support people. Where did people think the Labour money was coming from...

I am also hoping that some people will now take more responsibility for their own lifestyle choices - the disabled excluded of course. People constantly looking at the state to cover off their own mistakes.

I also expect the markets to like this result. It says it all that if Labour had been successful the markets drop.

Hillingdon · 08/05/2015 06:47

Yes, someone did tell Ed to marry his partner. It would make him look better. So he did! Bit of a waste of time on reflection.

Inlawsandoutlaws · 08/05/2015 06:50

hillingdon I salute you
Apple I voted Tory and I'm not racist, stupid or hateful I just don't believe in a magic money tree

Hillingdon · 08/05/2015 06:56

The immigration and people more and more reliant on benefits did it imho.

I don't think capping benefits was wrong. Why should a non working household earn more than the average wage. Just why?

And before anyone takes offence. I dont mean the genuinely disabled at all.

Hillingdon · 08/05/2015 06:57

In a while you will be called selfish, hateful and not caring about the disabled. Just wait.

Original poster

ApplePaltrow · 08/05/2015 06:58

Inlawsandoutlaws

You misread my post. I'm saying the exact opposite of what you think I'm saying.

OP posts:

piddlemakesmegiggle · 08/05/2015 07:00

Problem is the genuinely disabled are being told they arent genuine too many times. Forced into attending meetings at Job Centres, threatened with sanctions if they don't is pushing people to breaking point. With PIP now coming in and changing the criteria, even more will lose their independence. I fear for the disabled of this country. It will only get worse for them and their families.

TheChandler · 08/05/2015 07:08

ApplePaltrow This is going to sound awful but I realized that Ed Miliband was a dud when he turned out not to be married to his partner. It wasn't that they weren't married. It was that he bowed to pressure to marry her AFTER the newspapers brought it up.

Gordon Brown arguably did something similar. He was a confirmed bachelor before he realised that being married would be more fitting for a PM.

FarFromAnyRoad · 08/05/2015 07:23

Ed Miliband's problems go way further than just Ed Miliband. We don't yet know if Ed Balls has lost his seat but if he has then that should tell them all they need to know. The man is more concerned with bitchy PA sniping and that mansion tax - what a misplaced policy! That, in London, would have affected as many Labour voters as others and who did they think was going to sign up to that?
I think it's the right result - and I agree with pretty much everything Hillingdon has said.

Hillingdon · 08/05/2015 07:32

No one saw this coming though. Actually I think that Nicola was hoping for a Labour win so she could boss them around.

fancyanotherfez · 08/05/2015 07:42

far from the Labour party are the largest party in London. The mansion tax made no difference. There are a lot of London Luvvies voting Labour. The bankers vote in the home counties.

Queenofwands · 08/05/2015 07:49

I am beyond furious. The Labour Party voted for Ed because they wanted to move away from Blair. It has shot itself in the foot...and in my opinion has betrayed the people of the country who must now endure another five years of ideological austerity. Also Gordon Brown could have formed a coalition with the liberals and chose not to.

Ed Milliband I have heard is a very clever chap and brighter than his brother. We'll guess what labour, he doesn't come across as bright and capable, he comes across as a total fucking loser. I spoke to a labour peer recently who said that he felt that Ed's charisma was shining through in this campaign. How deluded can you get.

YANBU Of course David Milliband would have walked this, and we also wouldn't be looking at the break up of the union which will entrench the conservatives forever. It's not just about David as leader, it is about who he would have had brought in to manage the campaign.

I also wonder how much lib-dems decimation was down to labour supporters refusing to tactically vote for their candidates, after they have spent 5 years enabling Cameron and his vile agenda. This is a game changer for politics as we know it. Boris will contest the next election and he is far more popular with voters than Cameron.

I feel utterly bereft for the vulnerable in our society, particularly those with intellectual impairments. Thank you Ed and thank you Gordon, I hope you sleep well at night.

lottiegarbanzo · 08/05/2015 07:51

Essentially I agree and this is what I've got out of bed thinking - that the election has just played out what I thought when Ed won the leadership contest. Not that David would have walked it necessarily but that he'd have had a proper chance because he was believable as a leader.

It doesn't matter who members of the Labour Party favour, they're going to vote for them anyway. It matters who seems credible, reliable and safe to everyone else. David did.

irretating · 08/05/2015 07:56

I think first we should address inequality in opportunity. Being born poor is not a lifestyle choice and it can have huge consequences that affect your entire life.

JoanHickson · 08/05/2015 07:58

The Ed/David issue
Mrs Johnson leading to the rise of Balls
were define game changers.

JoanHickson · 08/05/2015 08:00

A hat and a kilt will be eaten in unison.

bronya · 08/05/2015 08:02

There was no one to believe in and the Lib Dems have shown they are weak in a coalition. People voted for the economy and a government they know. Tories vs labour = country's economy vs the poor. And nothing in between. There should be another viable option.

coffeecakeandgin · 08/05/2015 08:03

I don't think David Milliband would have made a jot of difference to the result. Neither brothers to me were what I would call statesmanlike or believable, they were like a couple of blokes playing at politics IMHO.

I just couldn't imagine EdM talking on a world stage with world leaders whereas I could DC.

eyebags63 · 08/05/2015 08:05

The Labour party needs a completely fresh leader and top team now. The worst thing they could do is have a knee-jerk leader contest and elect another familiar face.

Ed should stay on as care taker leader for a few weeks/months so they can find the right candidate.

Lilacflower · 08/05/2015 08:09

Yes ! I've said it all along. I'm a Labour voter but I feel Ed Milliband is not a credible politician. David Milliband has what it takes, I miss him.

Queenofwands · 08/05/2015 08:11

The reason I think David would have walked it is because Cameron is not a popular leader even amongst his own party. I think that's why the polls were so wrong. Many people didn't want Cameron but they wanted Ed less. This just needed a savvy campaign, careful management of the SNP in Scotland, and a credible front man (or woman). Ed's campaign was a disaster, and the quality of all the leaders was so poor they made Sturgeon look like Nelson Mandella!

eatyourveg · 08/05/2015 08:12

Think I might go to the bookies and put a tenner on 2015 being David Miliband versus Boris

hobNong · 08/05/2015 08:14

I don't understand why Ed's defeat over his brother is viewed by some as a betrayal. Would they feel the same if David had won?

I think most of the media never backed Ed, in fact I'd say he was bullied by them. I think he'd have done a lot better if they had got behind him more, or at least picked on him less. Their dislike of him makes me trust him more.

fancyanotherfez · 08/05/2015 08:15

Labour members didn't vote for Ed. The TU block vote got him in, thinking they would get a hard left leader. They didn't, and nobody else in the Labour Party wanted him in. Of course David Milligan's would have at least had a better chance. Part of the problem I think was imagining him as an international statesman. David has proven before and since he could do that. Ed looks like a little boy playing with the big boys.

But why have Lib Dem voters gone to the Tories? That's what I don't understand. They were both in government. That Labour couldn't even get them tells its own story.

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