Across the pond

In his acceptance speech at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester this afternoon, Ed Miliband, said that when he  joined the Labour Party, aged 17 in 1987:

Never in my wildest imagination did I believe that I would lead this party.

He was speaking truth, as politicans sometimes do.

But, as politicians rarely do, he was understating his totally amazingly rapid rise to the top job in what the opinion polls think is Britain’s most currently popular politcial party.

Though I have never met him – and so am not privy to his dreams - I can only conjecture that as recently as 2005, he would never in his wildest dreams then, have expected to become leader.

Because that is when he entered serious party politics. And had to fight a tough battle to get  the Labour nomination for the North Doncaster seat.

2005 is only five years ago. But the mainstream press, who were already speculating on who would lead the Labour Party after Blair, never mentioned him, quite rigthtly. He was a minor player, lucky to get in as an MP, helped by Downing Street support, where his elder brother was one of Blair’s most trusted aides as head of the Downing Street policy unit.

The rapidity of his rise is unprecedented in British political history.

This needs spelling out loudly and clearly because, in our world of instant news, the mainstream press in the last few weeks has been predicting that the Ed Miliband might beat his own brother to the job, even though David’s credentials are so superior.

David became the third youngest Foreign Secretary aged 41, and has done the job extremely well. He has huge experience of government and credibility with world leaders. But like Anthony Eden, who became Foreign Secretary at 37, he did not get the top job he deserved until too late.

Churchill, though he was far too  old and drinking far too much, insisted on carrying on as PM. So  Eden was kept waiting and waiting and waiting. He was 58 when he finally became PM. Not very old in today’s terms. But whatever the reason he for it, he was a disastrous PM, although he had been a very good Foreign Secretary.

Eden was too loyal to kick Winston out, while he was still alive. And David Miliband was too loyal to kick out Gordon Brown, before he was ready to go, although he had a half-hearted attempt at it, via an article in The Guardian.

But he did not take it to the voters.

And he did not share Churchill’s gift of being able to speak to the people.

Ed Miliband is better at speaking, from the heart to the people, than his brother, who is (as readers of this blogg will know from my post of his visit to my local Labour Party group) is not strong.

He is unproven in running a major department (as Thatcher was), let alone running the cabinet and a government. He won by a whisker, but the policy differences between him and his rivals, were very slight.

Unlike Denis Healey versus Michael Foot, so his task of uniting the Labour Party is not that difficult. And, unlike Tony Blair, he does not have to deal with a disgruntled Gordon Brown, he has to deal with his own brother, who had such a beaming smile as  he entered the conference hall today, knowing the result, that I thought he had won.

The pundits on the BBC programme I was watching discussed it. Obviously he was faking. Ed, by contrast was somber, and Ed Balls’ face showed that he knew he was a loser.

But maybe, just maybe, David’s smile was genuine.

He is after all  the elder brother, who was still there in the playground when Ed arrived at our local neighbourhood comprehensive, Haverstock School. When Ed probably had to protect him from the yobos in the playground. (Intellectuals of any political persuasion are not popular in the playground. And the Milibands was  nothing if not intellectual, even when they were in short trousers.)

The other amazing thing about today’s result is that Britain is again going to have an option to choose to elect the second Jewish Prime Minister in history.

Disreali, in fact, was a Jew who had become a Christian. Not sure what Ed is, but David has come out as a ‘secular Jew’.

So maybe  we have a possible Prime Minister who is prepared to admit he does not go to church. And a Prime Minister who would greet the Pope courteously.

But not go to Birmingham, thereby acknowledging the Pope’s pretensions to be regarded as a head of state.

And, maybe, just maybe, we might have a  Prime Minister who does not believe that trade unions, 2010, are run by a lot of power mad bosses schooled by Arthur Scargill.

Ed won this election, with the decl9ared support of the leadership of six trade unions, more than any other singly candidate. But all candidates were supported by some trade unions.

But the voting was done, not by the trade union block vote, but by individual members.

Enough  for tonight. But much more to be said  on these issues.