Labour Leadership Contenders

As a number of us expected, out here in the real world away from the Westminster Lobby and all of that, the bar has had to be set very low for Labour party leader candidates.

None of them is much cop when one looks into it is any depth, as NickM at Counting Cats has done this evening for just two of them (so far): Ed Miliband and Diane Abbott.

As Steve Green has shown, and one commenter to NickM's piece has also pointed out, Diane does have one or two at least partially-redeeming qualities, exhibited most notably in her handling of the "42 days detention" question in the House.

Overall, though, Ms Abbott is an unpleasant person with some nasty and racist views and outlook, despite the soft voice and cuddly appearance.

As for Ed M, with the "youthful good looks" (as the Counting Cats post reckons he will be marketed), he is just as rotten as the rest. His face and demeanour suggest someone untrustworthy, and when one analyses his true outlook (like that of his older brother, which is similar though not identical) as the linked post does to a degree, it quickly becomes apparent where his interests truly lie and his real motivation.

For him, and for all of the, it is always, always, the Labour Party and themselves first and foremost. It's the be-all and end-all for them, as their more revealing moments show (and they always slip up, sooner or later and usually sooner).

In that regard they are exactly the same as Gordon Brown, no better. Funnily enough, if Jon Cruddas had had the courage to stand, he might have turned out to have been better than that, having at least some real interest in the country despite his Leftward leanings. Ironic...

In reality the only one of the bunch who could even hold a candle to someone like David Cameron is "pretty boy" Andy Burnham, he of the long eyelashes and rather obvious make-up. In a sense, that is even more ironic, because of the sheer artificiality his appearance reveals. Therefore he still isn't someone we could automatically trust, despite his intellect, smoothness and media friendliness.

Fortunately for our nation, the Labour Party is far more likely to go for one of the Eds or the other Miliband, especially with respected (within the Labour movement, if nowhere else) figures such as Neil Kinnock declaring their support for one or another of those three. Kinnock has today come out in support of Ed Miliband.

With Ed B, Ed M or David M running the party, there would be little fear of their getting into government again for a very long time. Set the bar that low, and the rest of us can easily walk all over them...