kevlar85
Newbie
Posts: 3
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« on: August 03, 2004, 08:37:26 AM » |
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I can't honestly believe the Labour Party will elect another Blairite as leader when Blair goes. I think the successor to Blair will undoubtedly be Brown, he has the values to win over the party and the record to win over Middle England.
A more interesting discussion is who from the next generation of MPs is a contender. I think the leader after Brown will be a woman (one of the 97 Blair babes, no doubt), Labour hasn't had a female leader yet and to be honest I don't think the British public are ready for a black or gay PM for a few decades yet, sad but I think true due to the undue influence of the right-wing press. For example, could you imagine The Sun and Mail's reaction to Labour leader Chris Byrant?
I think the good thing Blair has done for Labour has broken it out of its old chains so that it can target it's policies at Middle England and introduce a fair few Old Labour type policies by stealth eg; minimum wage, increased workers rights, even increased taxes for public services.
So if it is to be a female leader, as I believe it will be, who? Patricia Hewitt would be good although, I think by the time the vacancy arises after Brown, too old. Yvette Cooper is obviously a contender, although someone I know who lives in her constituency says that she isn't that popular so maybe an increased profile would bring flaws to light? I have to say that Caroline Flint has impressed me recently, putting up a good defence of the anti-terrorism leaflet and is a good media operator, she also has a safe seat so is a safe bet to still be around by the time of the contest (a lot of Blair babes are in marginals), so in my opinion she's the best bet... after Brown of course.
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