@Richard

Who the heck is Chukka??

@Richard, if the Muslim protesters harassing baroness Warsi is your idea of protest, as against bigotry, either you did not deserve to be born in this country or you should leave this country. You surely are a danger to the society.

These are same the bigots who were calling for implementing Sharia..in UK. How much of a rascal can you be Richard?

WHAT A F###IN DISASTER.

Ed Miliband won the leadership contest on the strength of the union vote, the same unions who are going to make themselves unpopular over the next couple of years in their bid to fight their corner against the ConDem cuts (winter of discontent here we come).

At the next general election, (which could be next year if the AV Referendum fails and the Dems react by pulling out of the coalition), the Tory spin doctors and right wing media will have a field day. Imagine the headline - "The Unions who wrecked our lives with a winter of discontent gave us Red Milliband, do you really want him inside 10 Downing Street?"

The Tories will have the next general election on a plate. For Red Milliband read Michael Foot.

By the way, I wouldn`t be too quick to praise Chukka. On the BBC News Channel last night he was interviewed along with Lance Price. Chukka spoke very well, then, when it was Lance`s turn to speak, Lance warned of the dangers of Trade Union baggage and how the right wing media will try to exploit, at this point, Chukka handled himself badly in that, judging by his face, his nose looked well out of joint.

@Arthur Williamson

Don't be so downhearted, Arthur. You backed Ed Balls (as did I on the first round) and he did much better than expected.

I don't think the union line of attack will have legs. In the pre-1993 days, the union 'barons' could indeed deliver substantial chunks of the electoral college without any requirement to consult or ballot their members.

This result was based on 200,000 or so trade union members voting from their own homes over a period of about a month. They're probably more representative of ordinary people than Labour Party members and MPs.

He will do untill Lib Dems get Charles Kennedy back as Leader! I just hope he performs on policy like the Gradute Tax which he pinched from the LDs! Good call by the Labour party tho finally a leader with a slight liberal streak :)

I'm sorry but 7 million people out of the 60 million people that make up the population doesn't impress me. More people voted in the x factor finals last year.

I think it's a real flaw having the unions bloc making up a third of the electoral college. The whole leadership contest should be changed in future with one member, one vote with unions offering its members free Labour membership if they want to sign up.

Baroness Warsi failed to get elected as an MP so was given a life peerage instead. In her screeching hipocricy the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

I meant the 7 million out of 60 million doesn't, in my view, justify the unions making up a third of the electoral college. It is still proportionally a small number of the population. Any suggestion that the unions represent a large section of the population, as the article makes out, rings hollow.

One member, one vote.

Little'Baroness' Warsi has the cheek to criticise Ed Miliband's election, when she is an unelected peer in the House of Lords.She failed miserably to get elected as a MP.Perhaps Ed Miliband should push hard to get the unelected house of Lords abolished. It should be replaced by elected members.We wouldn't have ,then, to put up with the likes of Warsi.

But Joseph, 7 million, out of the 8,609,527 who voted for Labour in the general election (total votes cast 29,691,380) is rather more than a third isn't it?

We have a leader who isnt a centre ground , middle class vote grabber and not a man who is in hock to News International . I.e we have a man who doesnt play the modern political game and the right are in paroxisms already about it , To all Conservitives who are happy about "Red Ed" let me remind you , your man Cameron could barely defeat the most umpopular Prime Minister ever.

It's worthwhile remembering that Blair got a 52% vote from the Affiliated section when he became leader. The affiliated vote did not matter as he had unanimous support in the other two thirds. However, it's also worth noting that there was a smaller number of candidates standing against Blair - Prescott and Beckett. Kinnock only stood against Hattersley and John Smith only had Bryan Gould against him.

This leadership campaign had more candidates so therefore it was never going to be an outright anointment as with Blair. Kinnock, Smith from the MPs or the party members.

This is a big step forward for Labour, and we have a leader we can unite with. Ed "speaks human", which very many at Westminster don't, and will be able to reconnect with our lost voters.
Interesting to note criticism coming from the unelected Baroness Warsi and therightwing media.

Superb. It's 1980 all over again.
The conservatives made the same mistake with IDS.

You win elections by grabbing the centre, not bigging up your core vote.

See also Tea Party / GOP

By not playing their bloody game and tackling the likes of Murdoch head on.

At the beginning of the 20th century surveys showed that 25% of the population were living in poverty. They found that at least 15% were living at subsistence level. They had just enough money for food, rent, fuel and clothes. They could not afford 'luxuries' such as newspapers or public transport. About 10% were living in below subsistence level and could not afford an adequate diet.

The surveys found that the main cause of poverty was low wages. The main cause of extreme poverty was the loss of the main breadwinner. If dad was dead, ill or unemployed it was a disaster. Mum might get a job but women were paid much lower wages than men.

How the Labour Party began

The Labour Party was created in 1900: a new party for a new century. Its formation was the result of many years of hard effort by working people, trade unionists and socialists, united by the goal of changing the British Parliament to represent the interests of everybody. Ignored by the Tories and disillusioned with the Liberals, a coalition of different interests came together to push for change at a Conference on Labour Representation in London's Memorial Hall in February 1900.

This history of the Labour Party celebrates our achievements from its emergence in 1900 as a parliamentary pressure group. We are right to regard as historic the establishment of the National Health Service, the enshrining in law of equality of opportunity for all and the creation and maintenance of an empowering welfare state – all Labour achievements.

The party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist political parties of the 19th century seeking representation for workers.

If being a red means having the common decency of a normal human being then Ed should shout it from the rooftops.RED AND PROUD

Unlike this lot

* Topshop owner Green's £1.2 billion dividend was enough to double the salaries of Cambodian's whole garment workforce for eight years.
* A worker making clothes for Green's Arcadia group in Mauritius would need to toil for almost 4,000 years to gain the £3 million model Kate Moss earned for her Topshop clothing range.
* The £4.6 million in salary and bonuses for Tesco's chief executive Sir Terry Leahy could pay the annual wages of more than 25,000 Bangladeshi garment employees who supply its stores, based on average wages of about £15 a month.
* Coleen McLoughlin, the fiancée of footballer Wayne Rooney, collected a reported £1.5 million as a spokesmodel for George at Asda - clothes made in Bangladesh for five pence an hour. Coleen's £3000 Hermes Birkin handbag cost more than a Bangladeshi garment employee could earn in 16 years.
* The £2.3 million in salary and bonuses for M&S chief executive Stuart Rose would pay the annual wages of almost 12,000 Sri Lankan garment workers.

I bet RED and UNION are dirty words in that part of the world too.

Red Ed or Harriet Harman?

'New Generation Labour' or old tired
nanny state 'New Labour'?

Think the choice is obvious, however it is a pity that Ed did not get
the fulsome support of the PLP an
party membership, but had to rely
on the Union vote.