From five to one...

Three years later, hindsight is a beautiful thing. After a difficult time in charge, Brown has stepped down as the Labour leader, and David Miliband is the favourite to replace him. At 44 years of age, Miliband is young enough to represent a new face at the head of Labour, whilst being old enough to avoid being seen as a novice. Having spent a year as Environment Secretary and the last three years as Foreign Secretary, “the other David” already has a wealth of experience.

But David faces competition, not least from his brother Ed, who was the first Labour politician to secure the 33 nominations needed to stand. Ed Miliband is seen as the Brownite to David’s Blairite stance, and is undoubtedly the biggest threat of the four candidates standing against David. Ed is greener than his brother, both in terms of experience and policies; Ed is four years younger than David, assumed office four years later than him and joins the race to replace Brown after serving as the first Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. David is seen as the more intellectual Miliband, but Ed is seen as an engaging and inspiring speaker with union backing. As the two forerunners in the Labour leadership race, the brothers’ battle between David and Ed promises to be fascinating to watch.

That the other three candidates in the race only secured the minimum 33 nominations to stand is telling; it says to me that the rivals of the Miliband brothers don’t have a big enough wave of support in Labour to secure the party nomination. I’d never heard of Andy Burnham or Diane Abbott before their candidacy was announced, but the name Ed Balls had popped up a couple of times. Balls has been an MP for five years but became involved in politics in 1994, when he served as an economic advisor to Gordon Brown, who was serving as the shadow chancellor at the time. Balls served Brown for a decade before being promoted to Schools and Children Secretary, and is said to be close to the ex-Prime Minister. However, Balls says the Labour leadership contest is not about Blair versus Brown or old Labour versus new Labour, but about whether the party is still in touch with the public and understands their concerns.

Andy Burnham has been the MP for Leigh since 2001, and served under Brown in the Cabinet for three years. Burnham spent six months as Secretary to the Treasury, a further six months as Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport and a year before the General Election as Health Secretary. Burnham has some experience and a bright political future, but surely it is too early for him to lead the Labour Party.

Last but certainly not least is Diane Abbott, who allegedly only secured enough nominations to stand minutes before the party deadline. If David Miliband hadn’t nominated her, Abbott might not have been able to stand. The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington offers something different to this political race; the first black woman MP is now the first black person of either gender to contest the Labour Party leadership, and having assumed office in 1987 she is vastly more experienced than the four men she is up against. Abbott offers diversity to the race, but for me the fact that she needed David Miliband’s help says it all – she’ll make this contest a more interesting one I’m sure, but I don’t think she has enough support to win it.

In 2007, Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as Labour leader without a contest. Cliché as it sounds, competition is a good thing, and it will benefit both the Labour Party and the electorate that the Milibands and company will have to prove they are the best man (or woman) for the job. I still think David Miliband will get the nod, but with hustings to take place over the next two months and a ballot scheduled for September, there promises to be an exciting few months ahead for Labour.

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