David Miliband keeps the door ajar
James Forsyth 5:36pm
The list for the shadow
Cabinet elections shows that no David Miliband supporter who was going to stand for the shadow Cabinet has decided not to run following Ed Miliband’s victory. It’ll be intriguing to
see what the party balance of the shadow Cabinet is following these elections. There is an expectation that Yvette Cooper will top the poll now that David Miliband is not standing.
David Miliband’s decision not to stand was as expected. As one fellow hack pointed out to me the other day, if David had stayed on the public would never have worked out which Miliband was which and the press would have constantly looked for a split story.
But it is striking that David Miliband is staying on as an MP and not ruling out a return to front-line politics at some point. He is not shutting down all his political options yet.
One other thing worth noting today is how Ed Miliband has removed Nick Brown from the scene. Considering that the Brownite bruisers played a role in swinging a crucial number of second preference votes behind the younger Miliband, this is a move that shows Ed Miliband has no desire to be dependent on them. How they respond to that remains to be seen.
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John Staples
September 29th, 2010 5:53pm Report this commentthe decision to boot Nick Brown out is significant. It shows that Ed Miliband has the balls for the job.
Dimoto
September 29th, 2010 5:54pm Report this commentI don'y agree with that analysis.
Mili D. is sticking around for a while because his brother pleaded with him to, and because he hasn't sorted out any "dream job" yet.
This Labour leadership looks more and more like the Continuity-Brownlings.
TrevorsDen
September 29th, 2010 6:48pm Report this commentNick Brown as whip would have sent a lot of very bad signals. But Labour are in opposition, what is there to whip and whip about?
MiliD is hanging around 'til a convenient time to resign and have a bye-election.
Woody
September 29th, 2010 7:29pm Report this commentI think David Miliband has learn't a very hard lesson over the past few days and I suspect he is staying on the back benches in a 'wait and see' how little brother does.
The old welsh windbag says "we have got our party back" and John Cruddas says "oh no they haven't" or words to that effect.
I've criticised the conservatives for their useless communication dept but on this occasion they would do well to keep out of it. I'm pretty sick of this Labour-fest and I'm sure the public are.
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