Ed Miliband is the new leader of the British Labour Party

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/26/ed-miliband-david-labour-leadership
<snip>

It was the brother who lost who was first to his feet. As it became clear to the conference hall that a surge of second-preference votes had carried Ed Miliband to the Labour party leadership, David jumped to his feet to congratulate and embrace his younger sibling.

It was clearly all an act. Both brothers had been in optimistic mood earlier in the day. Arriving in jeans on the train from London, David had expressed confidence he could win, saying he was proud of the campaign he and his team had fought and promising to give his brother a "big hug" whatever the result.

So it was that when the biggest opportunity of their lives presented itself, it was Ed who seized the moment. It was an extraordinary decision to take on his own brother but he knew another chance might never come, and nobody wanted a repeat of the Granita deal that poisoned the party during the Blair-Brown years. "Am I really not going to stand because my brother is standing?" Ed said. "If he wasn't in the race, I would not have had any hesitation."

"It's a huge day for the Miliband family, not quite the day for the Miliband family I would have wanted – the Miliband D family, rather than the Miliband E. But that's the way things go. This is all about Ed setting a new agenda for the Labour party. We've all got to make sure we rally it in a very strong way. I think there is a real mood in the party to do that. So on we go."
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I hope the first thing he does is abandon New Labour.

[DFLforever]

1. He's come in with all of "old labour'" support.

so I expect that's what his victory portends.

[malaise]

5. I loved their dad's work

The State in Capitalist Society remains one of my favourite books.

Here's a nice read
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ralph-miliband-the-father-of-a-new-generation-2072092.html

[DFLforever]

7. Thanks for the link,

Very interesting article. The comments too.

[smalll]

2. It was a surprise. Also, perhaps British politics is still slightly less trivial than ours --

Here's the brothers: David (who lost) on the left; Ed (who won) on the right.



If this contest was over here, I can't imagine the Not Hot brother besting the at least semi-hot one.

[DFLforever]

3. They say Ed's more personable and has much better

rapport with people so maybe it's not altogether different.

[bikebloke]

4. David is too much a Blairite.

But I've read Ed is a bit tainted, too. Hopefully, Ed will be influenced by the old Labour of the unions, whose votes took him over the finish.

[T_i_B]

6. Ed Miliband could not have got where he has...

...without being tainted by Blairism to some degree.

[Ramulux]

8. This is good news

Ed is the more liberal brother who has been talking a lot about the wealth inequality in Britain. I have been reading some of the stuff he says and it sounds really good. He says the kind of stuff that would get someone labeled a far left radical in this country. Hes talking about how "New Labour" is over and they need to accept all the things that made them lose. I hope he does well because whether or not Labour regains power will depend entirely on whether or not people like him.

Hes also a pretty wicked politician who can speak more eloquently and clearly in some ways than Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXL1xJj0wIc