Well, this for me is a big decision. I've made a non-election podcast. I'll be making more and not all of them will be about politics. However, I'm still in a political frame of mind and today I wanted to argue why I think Tristram Hunt should be the next Labour leader. I know real Labour folk will disagree but real Labour folk are possibly the reason why they keep failing. Idealism gets in the way of common sense. Anyway, give it a listen and if you enjoy it, have any suggestions, or just want to give me encouragement to do more, please leave a comment or email me at thespineblog@gmail.com. I'm still not sure what I'm doing but I'm having fun doing it. [Apologies for the vulgar 'coke' joke at the beginning. Once written, I couldn't resist leaving it in.]
David, do you seriously believe that the people who sneered at a secular Jew who had problems with a bacon sandwich will not sneer at a Socialist called Tristram?
ReplyDeleteOr for that matter a black metrosexual called Chuka?
Dan Jarvis seems to have the most electable back story. Ex-military so hot on Defence and discipline despite being Labour, and the dead first wife (and I know how horrible this sounds but you have to get real) and raising the two kids on his own will play to the "Aaaaah!" brigade. {Ooooh! military person and military metaphor! Do you see what I did there?}
Yep. That's exactly what I believe. As I said in the podcast, every bone in my body says Burnham but I'm not the people the Labour party have to convince. They have to win over the people of Nuneaton and the rest of middle England. The next election might well have Boris at the head of the Tories. He's loved in that heartland and any candidate that Labour picks shouldn't look out of place there. Scouse accents aren't going to win over voters.
ReplyDeleteJarvis, I accept, looks a good candidate but I know too little to judge. I just know that, as a cartoonist, I'd find it easy to caricature that face. I also know how Hunt appeals to people around here (utterly working class northern town but Hunt has plenty of fans among people I know). But that is irrelevant. Around here, it's solid Labour. People would vote Labour irrespective of the leader. Labour need to follow Blair's advice. Head for the middle, head for the slightly bland, head for the person with the least amount of difference to that key electorate that Lynton Crosby target so well at this last election.