Now then, RLB. Hmm.
On the one hand, there MUST be a credible left wing candidate in this contest. It'll look like an appalling stitch-up otherwise. And if she stands, RLB may surprise me. We actually don't know that much about her at this point.
On the one hand, there MUST be a credible left wing candidate in this contest. It'll look like an appalling stitch-up otherwise. And if she stands, RLB may surprise me. We actually don't know that much about her at this point.
But the serious concern I have about her is this. It's not just that the media will trash her (watch the epithet 'Rebecca Wrong Daily' gain traction if she becomes leader. It's that on the little I've seen thus far, I don't think she has the qualities required.
Does she have the ideas? Perhaps. Though what I'm looking for in any leader is someone with both the ideas (most of those Labour stood on this year) AND the appearance of being 'prime ministerial'.
If Starmer wins, then abandons those ideas, I'll be somewhat less than ecstatic. In fact, I'll be livid. I don't believe he will though.
Labour need someone who both espouses popular, effective policies in tune with these times AND who convinces the public as a credible leader.
Labour need someone who both espouses popular, effective policies in tune with these times AND who convinces the public as a credible leader.
But the issue with RLB is this. She's humourless. She doesn't connect with people in the way that's needed.
As I've said, she could surprise me, and she has plenty of qualities. But there's a reason AOC is such a phenomenon... and it's not just her ideas at all.
As I've said, she could surprise me, and she has plenty of qualities. But there's a reason AOC is such a phenomenon... and it's not just her ideas at all.
It's that she's quite fantastically human. She's warm, relatable, fun, quirky even... as well as having an incredibly fast mind and an easy style of communication.
Corbyn, by contrast, was always slow in face-to-face set pieces... and if he got angry, it never worked. Ever.
Corbyn, by contrast, was always slow in face-to-face set pieces... and if he got angry, it never worked. Ever.
Basically, when Corbyn got angry, he always came across like Kevin The Teenager. Harsh I know - but I think even he realised that, so tried to avoid it as far as possible.
What is the biggest weakness of the left, as far as the rest of the public always sees us?
What is the biggest weakness of the left, as far as the rest of the public always sees us?
It's that we so often come across like we're so self-righteous. Like we think we're better than everyone else. In my experience, that self-righteousness almost always comes from a very good place... but it's precisely that which leads to sectarianism, tribes, labelling.
Ever wondered why Tories don't pop up on social media and tell all those they disagree with to "fuck off and join the Labour Party?" The right looks for converts; the left looks for traitors. Even if the right's behaviour is quite monumentally cynical and frequently nefarious.
I wish there was a better left wing candidate available. It doesn't appear that there is. Pidcock would've been perfect in so many ways - but we'll have to wait for her. I still think she'll be leader one day. I still think she'll visit President AOC as Prime Minister one day.
But I'll be honest: in a straight choice between Rebecca Long-Bailey and Keir Starmer, and they remain the probable top two, the Tories would prefer us to choose RLB every day of the week. She'd be much easier for them to lampoon and destroy.
But that doesn't mean, as I've mentioned above, I'd accept any centrist drift from Starmer either. We need radical solutions to enormous problems. And those solutions do not involve travelling back to either the 1970s or 1990s.
Somewhere in between Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn is an enormous chasm. The next leader must come from within that space: though be somewhat closer to Corbyn's side of the argument than Blair's.
And my first requirement of any leader? Unless they have a political suicide wish, get behind and argue for PR. It's an absolute sine qua non.
