A few weeks ago, Allegra Stratton put the cat among the Labour pigeons when she blogged that Jon Cruddas and James Purnell might team up to run for the leadership. At the time, some dismissed the idea out of hand. The nay-sayers argued that the ideological differences between Cruddas and Purnell are simply too large; Cruddas takes his inspiration from the first phase of Blairism and Purnell from its final period. But I’ve always thought an alliance was a distinct possibility. Both men know that their factions aren’t big enough to deliver the leadership on their own.
Another factor pushing Cruddas and Purnell together is that the other leadership options are so dire for Labour. Harriet Harman’s brand of cultural leftism is hardly what the country is crying out for. The only thing Ed Balls has ever had going for him as a politician is his (undeserved) reputation as an economic policy genius; that now lies in tatters.
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