The Sunday Times reports this morning that David Miliband is readying himself for a run at the leadership. A source close to Miliband tells the paper that “David is not going to do anything until a vacancy arises, but he is ready to go for it. There will be no public display from him in the next few weeks but he and his supporters will be making it clear to backbenchers that there is an alternative to Gordon.”
Miliband’s plan reflects a phenomenal sense of entitlement. He plans to leave to his colleagues the grubby and difficult task of prising Brown from Number 10. He will then glide into the leadership contest expecting the support of those who have just risked their careers to remove the Prime Minister.
The question Labour MPs have to ask themselves about Miliband is why would floating voters pick him over Cameron? They are both the very model of a modern politician; young, affable and not particularly ideological. Considering that Cameron has already cornered the market in this, Miliband would have trouble in giving these voters a compelling reason to switch. Indeed, all three party leaders would be remarkably similar but with Cameron as by far the best established brand—something that can only work to the Tory leader’s advantage.
If Miliband was PM, it would mean that Labour couldn’t make a big deal of Cameron and Osborne’s lack of experience in the general election campaign. Such attacks simply wouldn’t seem credible coming from a party led by a 42 year old. One also wonders whether Miliband—who was too frit to challenge Brown for the leadership last year—has the essential toughness that a Prime Minister needs.
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