http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/26/ed-miliband-leader-unions


Ah the unions. That favourite bete noir of journalists and Conservative politicians who need a scapegoat to blame for all the country's ills. I would have thought that after Thatcher effectively had them neutered nobody would get so hot under the collar about them but now it seems they have managed to rig the labour leadership election as opposed to, say, recommend to their members the one candidate out of the five who stood who they believed best represented their interests. This is certainly not creating a stooge as in any election you can only deliver on promises you actually make and people vote accordingly on such promises. Few people will ever totally agree with any one politician or party on all matters and often you may vote against the person you disagree with most but either way compromise is necessary. As for complaints that the Unions are too influential in the leadership election denies from where the labour movement was born and even in today's society the ordinary men and women who are union members better represent society than the professional politicians who make up the constituency members or the MPs themselves. These are the people who will vote in a General Election who work alongside people with similar concerns but without any affiliation. They are therefore not constantly surrounded by Labour people even if they themselves are but share many of the same troubles and have a fresh take on what is needed. Many obviously think Ed Miliband offers that alternative and to cry foul over the numbers is unfair when the method of counting them did not result in your favourite being elected. Statistics can always be manipulated to come to a different conclusion and there is never a perfect system (just look at our general election results) so you have to work with what you've got. That system may need improving or not but you can't use it to challenge the validity of the winner after the event. A lot smacks of general Tory sniping as they are slightly unsure what they are going to be up against so hope the cheap shots now may distract him. In the long run he may prove more effective having only had a relatively minor role in the last administration as opposed to his brother who might have been put on the back foot defending his record whenever he tried to criticise the Coalition.