To wonder if Yvette Cooper might have done a happy dance inside?

[GoringBit]

I'm sure she feels terrible for Ed Balls losing his seat, but if, as has been reported, they both have (had) ambitions to lead the Labour party, his being removed from that particular picture will avoid any Miliband-brothers-style leadership dramas in the Cooper-Balls home.

FWIW, I've been impressed by the way Nicola Sturgeon and, to a lesser extent, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett have been performing as party leaders. I think Yvette Cooper could be the new broom that Labour badly needs.

Well he attended an independent school and qualified (and practised) as a solicitor, so to some that would make him 'posh'.

Private school, only worked for a few short years in a London firm.

Maybe he isn't posh as such, but to 'Northeners', Welsh & Scottish and all the staunchly working class strongholds he is the same old 'elitist' career politician.
Many, many people perceive all people from London to be 'posh' and not give a shit about the wider country.
(Am not trying to be anti-anything or snobby btw, just honest as I perceive it from experience).

Would be good to have a Scottish or Welsh leader, but don't know enough about Labour MPs to name any.

I quite like Jim Murphy.

The unions want him gone.

Yvette Cooper has been around too long. To be electable it needs to be a face that the public are less familiar with. The public have given the message that they don't want a Labour connected to Gordon Brown or Ed Miliband. It needs to someone with a lower profile.

Maybe he isn't posh as such, but to 'Northeners', Welsh & Scottish and all the staunchly working class strongholds he is the same old 'elitist' career politician

Hmmm, this could be true. Shame though as I do like Chukka.

Perhaps Dan Jarvis then, sounds like he's more of a man of the people.

Jim Murphy,Joan?

Hasn't the leadership election system changed, though - it's now one member, one vote as far as I understand.

I don't think being "posh" is necessarily a problem. The public didn't have a problem voting for David Cameron and he is very posh. Remember that what the Labour supporters want is not necessarily what the public is looking for. Thats where Labour have gone wrong in recent years.

I've registered my domain name and I'm definitely not running!

I bet she's feeling pretty bad. Loss of income, status and having him hanging about the house will not be much fun.

I expect he'll still have a job in the party.

I think Dan Jarvis would be very electable if he can handle David Cameron in the House of Commons.

I was thinking that she will be pleased that he will be able to run the house, help with homework and get her dc through the teenage years while she focuses on her career!

thehumanjam
I don't think Labour can win if they alienate their core voters. There are many staunch Conservative constituencies that will (probably) never turn red. Sure, Labour need to win many marginal seats to win overall, but they need to retain their traditional supporters too. IMHO.

All MP's retain their salaries for a year to enable them to find work after they lose their seats, so Ed and Yvette won't be on the breadline yet.

I used to like Chuka Umunna but then I saw his response to Jim Murphy and his 1000 nurses boast. It was a public rebuke which should have been private. Mr Umunna came off as very anti-Scottish and obviously he and Jim Murphy don't see eye to eye, so if he were chosen as leader they would be unlikely to gain back ground in Scotland.

That would be irrelevant if they could get more support elsewhere in the country with him as party leader.

Chuka fits in with the London lawyer Labour party stereotype. Was his grandfather not a judge?

Tbh He could get over all that if he can communicate well enough but he comes across as arrogant atm.

Dan Jarvis could really appeal to voters Labour lost to UKIP. I agree that he needs testing in debate though.

I disagree that being a woman would be a problem for getting elected Labour leader. Swathes of north east England are represented by female Labour MPs, the core vote aren't quite what the north London elite think.

Is David Lammy running to get profile for a London Mayor campaign, or do people think he's got a chance?

Yes Soloman, woman / black is not the issue. Trust is.

GeorgeYeats, you're welcome to have Jim Murphy! He's as popular as a pint of day-old sick up here! Please, take him...

I just confessed on another thread that I quite fancy him

I vaguely knew Jim Murphy when he was NUS president. We called him a Labour hack then, and we were right. Career politician.

Sorry I was in no way shocked to hear JM described as a career politician, but the other thing...

Yes, I thought it was odd that there were two JM fans, but I realised its just you posting on two threads

I'm not alone! Another MNer confesses she has dark lustful thoughts about him too.