tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post225396302718542412..comments2024-03-28T07:14:01.343+00:00Comments on donpaskini: Hearing You Loud and Cleardonpaskinihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05963534291677598324noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-81016946771982380132007-03-14T16:34:00.000+00:002007-03-14T16:34:00.000+00:00Quite so, but that's because he's Deputy Prime Min...Quite so, but that's because he's Deputy Prime Minister, not because he's Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. <BR/><BR/>Though I gotta agree about the punch! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-49691766837443550272007-03-13T10:21:00.000+00:002007-03-13T10:21:00.000+00:00I'm not sure that people don't care who the Deputy...I'm not sure that people don't care who the Deputy Leader is; lots of people care who John Prescott is, one way or the other. And I bet his punching that egg-throwing twat in Rhyl got Labour more votes than any amount of prattle about golden rules of fiscal prudence...;-)Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070072244226235509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-85824347564479825922007-03-12T17:36:00.000+00:002007-03-12T17:36:00.000+00:00"I'm coming round to the opinion that the only fun..."I'm coming round to the opinion that the only function of Deputy Leader is to appeal to people that the incumbent Prime Minister won't appeal to in a general election."<BR/><BR/>I find this a peculiar view. The public aren't going to give a stuff who the Deputy Leader of the party is. You may be able to have some kind of "balanced ticket" effect with the Deputy Prime Minister, but I'm slightly sceptical about even than, and it is anyway a separate job. <BR/><BR/>I think that the politics of whoever wins could easily effect either policy or organising strategies if they make specific points central to the platform on which they are elected. <BR/><BR/>Assuming Brown wins, he isn't going to want his first act in office to be trampling all over the democratically expressed will of the party.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-43852168167250173462007-03-12T14:46:00.000+00:002007-03-12T14:46:00.000+00:00I suspect that this means our analysis is flawed s...I suspect that this means our analysis is flawed somewhere :)donpaskinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05963534291677598324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-22653295447548271332007-03-12T14:43:00.000+00:002007-03-12T14:43:00.000+00:00actually, if what we've both just written is true,...actually, if what we've both just written is true, the ideal combination would probably be John McDonnell & Hazel Blears (with a worst possible option of Michael Meacher and Peter Hain! [if anyone's still counting Meacher as a leadership candidate])Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-70637045563317542022007-03-12T14:33:00.000+00:002007-03-12T14:33:00.000+00:00I think that Hilary Benn is most likely to appeal ...I think that Hilary Benn is most likely to appeal to Lib/Lab lefties, Alan Johnson to people who have voted Labour since 1997 but think Gordon Brown is a bit weird and Scottish, and Harriet Harman or Hazel Blears to people who don't think that the top jobs in government should all be filled by men in their fifties. Which of those groups is most electorally significant, I don't really know. I can't particularly think of anyone who Peter Hain appeals to, and no one knows who Jon Cruddas is, so it is hard to know who he would appeal to, possibly trade union general secretaries, but they should probably be voting for us anyway.<BR/><BR/>A related role is stopping the Prime Minister from doing something stupid and unpopular, and/or persuading them to do the right thing. Alan Johnson has been quite good at this just recently over adoption and over lone parents.donpaskinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05963534291677598324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33451096.post-59350769670875422142007-03-12T14:20:00.000+00:002007-03-12T14:20:00.000+00:00I'm coming round to the opinion that the only func...I'm coming round to the opinion that the only function of Deputy Leader is to appeal to people that the incumbent Prime Minister won't appeal to in a general election. (This seems to be Harriet Harman's position, though I remain to be convinced that she is that person.) I can't see that the politics of whoever wins will affect policy, or organising strategies. Who do you think is most likely to fulfil that function? (An open question, I really am not sure)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com