Mr B's successor?
James has an interesting post about the Labour leaderhip. He ends with this line about James Purnell:
I still think it is too much of a stretch to think of him as Prime Minister.
I know what he means, but I'd point out that no one thought of John Major as a potential Prime Minister until the leadership election. And I'd suggest that James is in a different intellectual league to the former PM, as well as having a very appealing manner.
In that regard, my money has - literally - long been on two people: James Purnell and Alan Johnson. Jack Straw is more of the same. As the old saw has it: what is the question to which Jack Straw is the answer? Ed Balls is struggling even as Education Secretary and is surely not a serious candidate. As for the supposed favourite, David Miliband; I just don't see it. He comes across as the ultimate geek, and I've yet to see any evidence that the political (let alone intellectual) meat is really there.
Purnell has most of the necessary qualities, so long as age and inexperience isn't a bar (and it is actually an asset, as it was for Blair and Cameron). He also seems - according to Jophn Rentoul - to be very shrewdly holding "a regular surgery for MPs at the Commons to discuss welfare issues from their constituencies".
And Johnson is the only member of the Cabinet who comes across as vaguely normal, and would presumably go down well with his formber brothers in the unions.
Still, this is all academic. The PLP are a bunch of spineles wimps who seem unable to stop themselves plunging to defeat with Gordon B rather than offer ingthemselves any hope. Cheerio!
UPDATE: As some commenters have pointed out, there were some people who thought of Major as a possible PM. I should have written 'few people'.
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Water
July 17th, 2008 11:46am"I know what he means, but I'd point out that no one thought of John Major as a potential Prime Minister until the leadership election." true
though I doubt he will be forced out, but I must get of this computer.
Bruce, UK
July 17th, 2008 12:03pmExellent. Having identified Purnell we may be sure that Brown will destry him.
Marbury
July 17th, 2008 2:16pm"no one thought of John Major as a potential Prime Minister until the leadership election"
That's not true, is it? People thought of him as a potential PM the moment he was appointed Foreign Sec as I recall...It's more the case that people didn't think of Major as a PM when he actually was PM...
Anthony Adams
July 17th, 2008 3:20pmWhy would anyone want the job now? To take over in this Parliament would be a hiding to nothing.
It would make more sense to postpone an attempt at the top job now and wait for the next political cycle.
Richard
July 17th, 2008 3:58pmMiliband isn't just a geek, but also a very huffy and condescending one. This is a man who wrote that his taste in music was ecletic, then provided the dictionary definition. What a patronising irk.
William Norton
July 17th, 2008 4:09pmJeffrey Archer famously picked John Major as the next Prime Minister before he reached the Cabinet - 1986, I think. I remember Private Eye making fun of Archer over it at the time.
Mark
July 17th, 2008 4:27pmRe the Major comparison, in addition to J Archer, the right wing pundit Bruce Anderson also had Major's card marked as a possible leader a couple of years prior to the 1990 leadership election.
John
July 17th, 2008 5:17pm"I'd point out that no one thought of John Major as a potential Prime Minister until the leadership election"
Complete fantasy, I am afraid. He was discussed as a future PM while still 1st sec. tr., largely with approval. And I see you are among the condescending mob who sneer at Major's intellect, which is at least as analytical and broad as that of your wonder-toddler.
William Norton
July 17th, 2008 5:41pmMark: anything on which Jeffrey Archer and Bruce Anderson agree is, of course, a real bankable cert....
Verity
July 17th, 2008 8:38pmI too think Alan Johnson is a real possibility, although he says he doesn't have the intellectual wherewithal for the job. Very self-effacing, I'm sure.
He's the one I would least like to see, because the ladies like him. Some socialists who had been flirting with the idea of giving the Tories a whirl might be motivated to give Alan Johnson a try instead.
john problem
July 18th, 2008 9:03amThe serious money is on Tessa Jowell. Before politics she was a social worker and now she is in charge of the Olympics. Perfect for the job of PM of our treasured isle - experienced in welfare and sport. 'Bread and Circuses' could be her platform.