There’s an intriguing interview with Derek Simpson in the Mirror today, in which the joint Unite general secretary issues a blunt warning to Gordon Brown that he must return to “Old Labour” policies or “stand aside” for someone else. That is noteworthy enough, but Simpson adds: “If I had to name one for the future I pick Ed Miliband. He has potential to be a lot more progressive.”
The younger Miliband is now widely talked about as a future leader within the Labour Party and some sections of the media (I have tipped him for years, and last week described him as a “leader-in-waiting” ). Simpson’s unexpected intervention is significant, however, because this is the first time such an influential figure has explicitly linked him to the leadership.
Obviously Ed Miliband, like his brother David, would never challenge Brown, so we are probably talking about a post-Brown vacancy in the by-no-means certain event of a Labour defeat. And anyway he may well not run if his older brother does so. He is ultra-modest, and loathes talking about such hypothetical situations.
But that momentum is gathering behind him — whether he likes it or not –is no longer in doubt.
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