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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aibu to think that it is about time Labour had a female leader ?

157 replies

frumpet · 09/05/2015 10:09

And if they did who should they pick in your opinion ?

OP posts:
hackmum · 10/05/2015 10:03

Someone said early on that the important thing was to get the most competent person. I'd like to agree with that, but sadly, I don't think it's true.

If you look at Ed Miliband, the attacks on him by the right-wing press were rarely about his competence. They were much more about how "weird" he looked, his north London background, his refugee parents and his inability to eat a bacon sandwich. None of these were anything to do with his competence as a politician, and all contained an unspoken undercurrent of anti-semitism.

So it seems to me that, yes, you'd want someone who's competent, but also someone who looks pleasant, has a bland personal history and who appears personable. Tristram Hunt is too easily attacked for being posh and having an academic background. Yvette Cooper is too closely associated with the previous administration and it's a fair bet that the right-wing press would run with a "Vote Cooper, get Balls" line.

For me, none of the candidates stand out. I always liked Alan Johnson but he has said he won't stand. I do like Creasey - I don't know much about her politics but she has an aura of competence and likability. Chuka has the advantage of being good-looking - beyond that I don't know much about him, but I do think he may be a bit young for the job.

Tanith · 10/05/2015 10:18

Regarding Chuka's article, I would add that they also didn't do enough to challenge the Tory bribes.

Allowing people to buy their HA homes and 30 free hours childcare - both bribes were not theirs to make. They rely on the HAs selling their properties (their properties - why should they?!) and childcare providers being willing to subsidise even further the not-so-free entitlement that the Coalition couldn't even fund for 15 hours.

They should have been strongly challenged, not sidelined by silly arguments about non-existent SNP coalitions.

noblegiraffe · 10/05/2015 10:22

Tristram Hunt is a shit shadow education secretary. To get teachers behind him he needed to be a good alternative to Gove which should have been a piece of piss, but he couldn't manage that. I know teachers who were hesitant to vote Labour because of him.

So apart from looking like a Tory and having a Tory-sounding name, I don't believe he knows how to unite people behind him.

hackmum · 10/05/2015 10:49

Tanith - you are right. If the government tries to force housing associations to sell their stock, it's going to have a hell of a job on its hands. They've already said they'll mount a legal challenge, so it will take a while for that to go through the courts. I think it might be one of those pledges that will be quietly abandoned while they get on with holding a referendum on the EU and dismantling the Human Rights Act. That's going to keep them busy.

AnnPerkins · 10/05/2015 10:50

Oh god JoanHickson, I too hate that Blair 'Look' thing. As soon as one of them does it I lose all trust in the rest of their sentence.

It's a shame Alan Johnson isn't interested. He went to the same school as my dad (albeit many years later) so even he, as a dyed in the wool Tory, would identify with him.

TooManyHouseGuests · 10/05/2015 10:52

I agree about the Housing Association sell off. Terrible idea. I hope they are taken to court, lose, and drop it.

JoanHickson · 10/05/2015 11:04

Gove has Rhino skin just the person to remove Human rights.

Tanith · 10/05/2015 11:11

And they accuse Labour of spending other people's money!!

ElectraCute · 10/05/2015 11:16

I am now behind Dan Jarvis after finding out he did his BSc at Aberystwyth and his MSc at King's - just like me Grin

I like Yvette but agree that the right-wing media would've make huge capital out of her being married to the 'hated' Ed Balls.

WD41 · 10/05/2015 11:21

Glendaisgrumpy puts across a compelling case for Dan Jarvis.

I voted with my heart last time and voted for Ed. I still maintain he would have been an excellent PM but clearly didn't appeal to the masses. This time I'm really thinking about who will appeal to the public and won't be vilified in the press. Dan Jarvis fits the bill.

I also quite like Stella Creasy but perhaps she would come across as too young and inexperienced.

gallicgirl · 10/05/2015 11:39

Is there someone who is competent, a leader AND electable? And more importantly, will the Labour membership be able to spot that person.

I've not heard of Dan Jarvis but I'll be keeping an eye out for him now.

hackmum · 10/05/2015 12:04

I had never heard of Dan Jarvis either. I must admit I relish the idea of Labour having a leader who can't be accused of being posh, foreign, elitist, sexually deviant or unpatriotic by the right-wing press. (I've no doubt they'll find something, but it will be a bit more of a struggle.)

He may be handicapped by being so little known and, in political terms, inexperienced. And more importantly, I doubt he has a huge base of supporters in the parliamentary Labour party and the trade unions.

Thymeout · 10/05/2015 15:56

Well, the fact that we're talking about him now must mean someone is promoting him. Does anyone know who/which section of the party is pushing his cause?

GoringBit · 10/05/2015 17:09

I hadn't heard of Dan Jarvis before Friday and am already a little bit in love with him. He seems the sort of person who could lead a revolution in British politics. I hope that Labour chooses its next leader smartly. Ed M may be a good man, but was never a vote-winner, whereas Dan Jarvis seems very much to be.

Thymeout · 10/05/2015 18:22

Yes - I may re-join the party to have a vote. (I resigned over Academies and PFI.)

JoanHickson · 10/05/2015 19:12

I liked the sound of Dan too. I have now talked myself out of giving him my vote.

In the time of ISIS theats I don't want a psychologically trained and practiced killer with polarised thinking ingrained during combat, at the helm.

Rox19 · 10/05/2015 19:15

Yvette cooper all the way!!

grovel · 10/05/2015 19:19

JoanHickson, can't agree. My experience of meeting senior military (and ex military) personnel is that they are completely sane and rational. Because they know how vile conflict is, they are very far from gung-ho or psychopathic.

JoanHickson · 10/05/2015 19:21

I didn't mention being mentally unbalanced, what an odd thing for you to come out with. Confused

It is standard training I was referring to and nothing else.Hmm

BabyGanoush · 10/05/2015 19:24

hackmum, I agree about the anti-semitic undercurrent. Quite nasty really.

Not sure being posh is a problem though.

Look at Boris Johnson.

Being posh whilst claiming to be common however, makes people quite irate. Things like the two-kitchen issue show that. He wanted to show he was "just ordinary" with a "small, ordinary kitchen" which made people feel he was trying to take them for a fool. Same with the bacon sandwich, why was he eating one if clearly he's never eaten such a thing in his life? Was he trying to be down with plebs like us, who eat fried breakfasts? He probably eats organic muesli in real life.

Being posh is fine, as long as you own it, and you're not a hypocrite about it. Boris Johnson (who I think is quite dangerous beneath the buffoonery) understands this much better.

This is something lots of politicians get wrong. I do not think the posh are universally hated, however hypocrites are fairly widely loathed.

Thymeout · 10/05/2015 19:25

I don't recall Paddy Ashdown as being particularly gung-ho about going to war.

JoanHickson · 10/05/2015 19:26

PA was never PM.

grovel · 10/05/2015 19:29

JoanHickson, are you suggesting that anyone who has had basic military training is unfit to lead a political party?

Thymeout · 10/05/2015 19:34

Well, no, he was a LibDem. They don't get to be PM's.

He was and is always regarded with some respect when he speaks about military matters, precisely because he has had direct experience of warfare.

Tanith · 10/05/2015 21:31

Dan Jarvis has ruled himself out Sad