That Ed Miliband is even having to state that he wants to carry on as Labour leader if he loses the general election when his party is ahead in the polls shows what a mess the operation around him is.
There are a number of Shadow Cabinet members who seem more interested in what happens after the 2015 election than in their party’s chances in that election. Perhaps this is because they have decided that though their party is ahead now, voters will panic about Miliband as they start to try imagining him as Prime Minister. Better to get your off-the-record briefings in now, and not make too much of an effort batting for this guy when you think you’re doomed.
The problem is, of course, that this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you assume your leader is doomed, brief that he’s ‘weird’, start plotting about who will lead the party after the 2015 election, and neglect your brief in the Shadow Cabinet, then you’re hardly helping your party hold on to that poll lead.
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