No Change For Labour Now

I wrote in June that the Miliband endorsing the Sun moment was the last chance for Labour to act internally to secure a majority at the next election. Had Liverpool MPs and others acted then, there would have been a reasonable time in which Ed Miliband could have stepped down or been pushed. A new leader could then have taken Labour into the election. At this stage to try and stage a coup against him would be seen as desperate. Labour have made their choice and they have to stick with it.

I think what is clear now is that we are heading into an election where there will be no clear winner under the First Past the Post system for the second successive election, and the maths might be very complicated for any party to form a majority. The perceived wisdom is that UKIP will cost the Tories seats but as we are about to see in the Rochester byelection, a seat that Labour held up until very recently, and the kind of seat they should really be winning at this stage in a parliament against an unpopular incumbent government, they are no longer in the running to be a majority government.

We'll be putting forward a radical programme to lift Britain out of austerity, that emphasises redistribution and a fairer society. We absolutely must see the inspirational Caroline Lucas re-elected to Parliament. It is the kind of programme Labour could have put forward. Miliband would still be under unrelenting attack from the right wing press, but the working class Labour voters who are deserting them for the Greens or UKIP might instead be backing him. As a leader, whether you are a member of Labour or otherwise, he has been disappointing. That isn't good when you consider the alternative to Labour as the largest party is likely to be five more years of coalition.