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How about John McDonnell?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 06:49:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Left Wing ExtremistTM. NuLab won't touch him.

Except for that, he'd be the most interesting choice.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 07:15:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Helen did say
Even if either Milliband or Balls (both NuLab loyalists) become PM, I imagine there will be a reassertion of the socialist left, theirs has been the only credible critique of late.


When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 07:18:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Whither NuLab™, and for how long?

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 08:54:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think Helen's point that the OldLab has been gutted is hard to argue against. With lack of consituency level support, and with the Tory press sharpening the knives, and with NuLab stuffed to the nose hairs with Tony Cronies, and without real leadership - Tony offered it, albeit in a bad way, and Gordon is probably about as good as the remainder - there's not going to be a lot that NuLab can offer.

What the party needs is someone with the charisma of Obama and serious left wing policy goals.

I doubt there's anyone like that in the party. Any likely candidates will have been purged.

The Lib Dems are going to have more chance of winning than NuLab will.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 11:43:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A good overview of what happened

Guardian - Jeremy Seabrook - The politics of Impotence

New Labour was thus enlisted on the side of the "forces of conservatism", against which Blair is supposed to have set his face to sternly. With its wholehearted submission to the economics of globalisation, New Labour at the same time provided a strong bulwark against any significant discussion of its political consequences.

This is why debate in Britain has been parochial and trivial, and may be the reason why many have voluntarily disfranchised themselves. Popular perception that there is no difference between the Conservatives and New Labour is not a result of apathy or ignorance: it is a proper response to a collusive mainstream agreement on the absence of alternatives.



keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 11:58:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The Lib Dems are going to have a hard time beating Labour into third place in any case.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 02:35:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
So we have a choice between the crazy party, the zombie party and the well-meaning but useless party.

Excellent.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 04:30:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Do you see Labour dropping below 20% of the vote nationally?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 04:42:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
If the LibDems stopped turning up their noses at those irritating working class people and made an effort to welcome them, then yes - Labour could drop below 20%.

Otherwise the natural floor is somewhere around 20-25%. And Labour is certainly heading in that direction.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 08:39:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Does it matter? I have heard that Blair got in his last election only 25%, but as there are so many competing parties, one can get already for ~30% the MP.

Gemach, gemach
by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 08:56:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It matters when Labour is bleeding votes to the Tories who are now polling above 40%.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 07:07:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
My question was... loaded. I hear New Labour's death knell. I don't think Old Labour will rise again.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun May 18th, 2008 at 04:00:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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