I’m supporting Ed Miliband, But Here Are 5 Questions for All the Candidates
By Emma.
I was at the Fabian’s Next Left conference on Saturday, and anyone who saw me there will know that I am supporting Ed Miliband for the leadership of our party. I think he is an ideal candidate, warm and engaging, thoughtful and not afraid to push back on a question – or to say I don’t know, but then make sure he does find out. I thought the speech he gave was inspiring and principled (I actually welled up to hear a Labour politician talking thoughtfully about class, something we have tried to ignore for too long). Ed’s record at DECC was exemplary, and through my work with SERA and my interest in climate change issues I am aware of how far he brought us and the passion he has for taking Britain into a new era in a compassionate, fair and progressive way.
The issues that arose at the Fabian conference got me thinking about what we need in a leader and what I would want the whole slate to commit to or think about.
So here are some questions all our candidates should answer, some specific, some on direction and principle, that will help to focus the debate, and the answers and discussion of then would help us to renew as a party, a movement and as an electoral force.
1. Will you restore the vote to conference, and if so, what measures beyond this would you take to make our party more democratic?
2. What will you do to ensure that never again will we have a position where there are no female candidates in the contest for the Labour Party Leadership?
3. How should a left-of-centre party, in opposition to a Right-of-Centre coalition conduct itself in opposition?
4. If you were forced in this contest to be defined by one key policy proposal, what would it be?
5. How do we articulate a progressive and (small l) liberal vision of an active and pro-active state?
For me I think these cover the areas of vision and leadership, without tying them down to policy specifics that they may decide would be best discussed through conference and other bodies.
Tags: Ed Miliband, gender quotas, Labour leadership, Labour Party Conference, Labour Party democracy, liberal values, SERA
Monday, May 17th 2010 at 00:01
Really intelligent, interesting and thought provoking post. Sounds like a great Fabian event. Ed is super, as is David. There’ll be more candidate announcement this week – the great thing is that it’s going to be a fraternal and friendly thing. Bags of talent to choose from and in my experience they all put Labour and the country, not themselves, first.
Monday, May 17th 2010 at 00:11
That was a bit anodyne… Hadn’t finished! Apols. My thought re: your post was that the all the contenders will have to reach out to the middle-ground. But, for me anyway, the thing is that the concept of a progressive alliance can hardly cohere given that the Lib Dems are (at least) as likely to choose the Tories as Labour. Your questions are really pertinent and I hope you get some interesting replies. For the moment, I’m keen that Labour is unambiguously Labour and not a confused corporate personality which hopes the Lib Dems’ next deal will be with us. For me, that’s the delineator between Miliband and Balls.
Monday, May 17th 2010 at 00:21
I agree entirely. The last thing we want to do is look “all the same” and so will need to define ourselves properly and distinctively.
I agree that there is a strong feeling that this is going to be a great contest. I also really believe the party are ready to stand behind whoever wins united. I have been so pleased that I have seen a fierce appitite for the real fight with the Right-of Centre government, and no appitite at all for a fight amongst ourselves. As long as this contest addresses these real issues in a positive forward thinking way, I am sure we can keep it that way.
Excellent work on the DE Bill btw. Iremain 100% behind you.