The Staggers: Labour leadership

It might seem an odd time for Ed Miliband to reform the Labour leadership voting system. After all, if things go to plan, the party won't need to hold another election for many years. But the case for reform is undeniable.

Labour is now the only one of the three main parties that does not use a one-member-one-vote system (Omov) to elect its leader. As a result, some people's votes are ... read more

They may have delivered him the crown but Ed Miliband isn't afraid of picking a fight with the trade unions. Today's Independent reports that the Labour leader is pushing for a cap on party donations of £500, significantly lower than the £50,000 proposed by David Cameron.

As part of Labour's evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the party's general secretary, Ray Collins, has ... read more

Discussing the Milibands recently with a Labour peer, I was told: "Things are terrible. They're no longer on speaking terms."

In an atmosphere of lingering resentment at Ed's leadership campaign, notably his (truthful) claim to have opposed the Iraq war, the two camps have struggled to evolve a modus vivendi. Meanwhile, David's supporters have constructed a fantasy in which their man returns to claim the crown from his treacherous brother.

With this ... read more

Having elected Ed Miliband as leader less than two months ago, now may seem an odd time for Labour to re-open the debate over its arcane voting system. But that's what the increasingly outspoken Alan Johnson has done. He tells the Times (£): "I would like to see a full one-member one-vote system for leadership contests. At the moment it can be one-member four votes and that's wrong."

Had ... read more

Tory HQ hoped and prayed for an opportunity to present "Red Ed" as a union shoo-in and, in the event, they've got one. Despite winning fewer votes from MPs/MEPs and party members than David, Ed secured the leadership on the strength of his support among affiliated trade unions and socialist societies.

David won 53 per cent of the MPs' vote to Ed's 47 per cent, and 54 per cent of the ... read more

There was a time when few expected Ed Miliband to run for the Labour leadership, let alone win it. But here at the NS, we can claim to have been more prescient than most. As the screengrab below shows, we identified Ed as "Labour's next leader" as early as 25 January.

Before that, in December 2008, our political correspondent, James Macintyre, ... read more

It's over. Ed Miliband has just been elected Labour's new leader with 50.65 per cent of the vote -- the tightest result since Tony Benn and Denis Healey in 1981. It's a great moment for progressive politics and a huge achievement for Ed, whose impressive and energetic campaign allowed him to come from behind to win.

The New Statesman was one of the few mainstream publications to endorse Ed's leadership ... read more

16:05 The delegates are being played a video (soundtrack: Bloc Party's "So Here We Are") before Labour's general secretary, Ray Collins, arrives to announce the result.

16:10 Ray Collins has taken to the stage, praising a "long and inspiring contest".

16:14 He is introducing Gordon Brown, who will make a rare speech shortly, to applause from the audience. He praises Brown for reducing poverty at home and abroad and for preventing a ... read more

Andy Burnham yesterday became the first of the Labour leadership candidates to criticise the party's voting system and the disproportionate power that MPs wield under it.

As I've pointed out before, the party's tripartite electoral college (divided between MPs/MEPs, party members, and affiliated trade unions and socialist societies) means that some votes are worth significantly more than others. The vote of one MP is worth the ... read more

After 109 days of waiting, Labour finally gets a new leader today. Although the special conference opens at 4pm in Manchester, we're not expecting a result until around 4.40pm. The announcement will take this long because the results in each of the three sections (MPs/MEPs, party members and affiliated trade unionists) are explained separately. The candidate with the lowest vote will be eliminated and his or her voters redistributed until ... read more

With the shadow cabinet elections due to start as soon as the new Labour leader takes over, I thought it would be worth putting together a list of all declared candidates.

Below are the 43 confirmed candidates, with links to their "Vote for me" letters where appropriate.

Douglas Alexander

Hilary Benn

Ben Bradshaw

Roberta Blackman-Woods

Kevin Brennan

Liam Byrne

Chris Bryant

Vernon Coaker

Yvette Cooper

... read more

The votes may be in and counting may have began, but with the result of the Labour leadership election just a day away, Ed Miliband is gathering some final momentum.

Within the past few minutes, it's emerged that he is now the bookies' favourite to win the contest, the first time the markets have put him ahead of David. The news means that both the pollsters and the punters are ... read more