Diane Abbott after the capitulation of McDonnell is the obvious candidate for the left of the party, but less obviously Ed Miliband has also begun shifting tetchily to the left with his somewhat belated rejection of the Invasion of Iraq and implementation of a return to and an embracing of traditional values within the party. This immediately raises the point did David Miliband endorse Abbotts candidacy so as to split the left vote, against his own brother!? Somewhat extreme as this may appear, this was certainly a very un-Blair like move. Tom Clark from the Guardian commented that this position would never have existed under Blair who famously moved to stop “Red Ken”. What’s immediately clear in my eyes is that David Miliband is playing a long game strategy, that is most un Blairite like, whether it is through a sense of fairness, the necessity of having a women as a candidate or an overwhelming desire to be leader at all costs (whether that cost be his brother or not) I am not sure only this summer can tell.
As a post note its worth mentioning I think that no leader of the opposition elected immediately after an election defeat has ever made it to Prime Minister in the post war period, an ominous omen if ever I saw one!
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