By Lewis Sidnick.
Most of the Ed v David commentary following the Labour leadership result has focused on why choosing Ed Miliband, instead of David, is good news for the Conservatives. However, it may not be as black and white as it seems. There are five clear reasons why Ed could turn out to be the better choice for Labour.
1) He is new: No matter how important he was to New Labour in Government, and no matter how many years he worked for Gordon Brown and served as a Cabinet Minister – the public hardly know him. They don’t recognise his association to the past Blair/Brown years. Unlike his brother, to the vast majority of the public he is a fresh new face at the top of British politics.
2) He’ll have a centre ground agenda, but with a splash of left policy which could work well. Ed Miliband will know the dangers of presenting a left of centre agenda and come the General Election, the main strands of his policies are bound to be centre ground. But during a period of cuts and pain, lower disposable income, falling property prices and general financial insecurity a splash of more “caring” left policies will work well for the next 2/3 years. Blair said to move an inch to the left would be a disaster for Labour. He was right but he isn’t now. During his period as Leader, with a growing economy and rising levels of wealth, moving to the left would have been ideal for the Conservatives. However, a light short term left of centre policy approach, but fading away as the election approaches could be a sensible strategy.
3) He will be able to ditch the broken New Labour brand: As a result of points 1 and 2 above, he (and not David) will be able to ditch the New Labour past and move the Party on (regardless of whether policies change or not).
4) He is normal: Despite his education and years growing up in a posh area in north London, he comes across both as normal and also successful and competent. Most importantly he can communicate in everyday language, sound knowledgeable and not out of touch (a frequent criticism was that David could not).
5) He is a winner. His success story is quite remarkable. He became an MP in 2005, then a Cabinet Minister and now Leader of the Opposition. How many people can compete with that? Well, maybe only Cameron and Clegg can and look where they are now.