Ed Miliband owes his victory to the unions, and whatever pact he made with them may haunt him

2 October 2010

Fraser Nelson reviews the week in politics

At Labour party conference in Manchester last week, David Miliband’s supporters could be spotted at 20 paces. They were the ones walking around in a daze, still not quite able to take in what had happened. They felt that their man had not so much lost as been assassinated, by a trade union hit squad which now seems to hold the balance of power in the Labour party. In the bars, some of Miliband’s campaigners were trying to reconcile themselves to the way elections are fought within the party. ‘They stole it fair and square,’ one grumbled. There was no talk of fightback. The defeat is final.

The trade union leaders, by contrast, were walking around Manchester with a regal air — congratulating each other on what was, admittedly, an incredible victory. There may be no vast political difference between David and Ed Miliband, but they had been chosen to represent two warring tribes: those who wish to preserve the New Labour project, and those who wish to destroy it. One of Ed Miliband’s aides estimates that the unions spent an extraordinary £1.8 million campaigning for him. Under Labour’s peculiar system, union members’ votes count for a third of the total. So while Labour MPs and members has preferred David, their verdict was overturned.

Just what have the unions purchased for all that money? There was not much indication in Ed Miliband’s main speech. Having been so close to the unions, his mission is to create some distance — but vowing opposition to ‘unreasonable strikes’ tells little about his intent. For the first time in four months of speechmaking, he revealed he would be prepared to support certain ‘painful’ cuts. To hear the applause, one would never have imagined that fewer than a third of Labour members had made him their first choice. Loyalty in public, moans kept private: this was the order of the week.

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Tariq

October 7th, 2010 2:10pm Report this comment

What's the point of preserving New Labour, when the current government has adopted so much of its style, rhetoric, and approach? Surely voters don't want to be offered the same vehicle with slightly different trim?

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