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Burnham still tops of Shadow Cabinet rankings – but Cruddas and Watson make the Top 3

August 16, 2012 4:34 pm

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Mark Ferguson

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Andy Burnham is now nearing a year as the most popular member of the Shadow Cabinet with LabourList readers, but he’s now getting competition from two newer members of the shadow cabinet in the form of Jon Cruddas and Tom Watson. There’s greater flux in the rankings this month than in recent months – the biggest winner of that being Jon Trickett who surges seven places upwards, with Douglas Alexander, Caroline Flint being the biggest movers in the opposite direction. The bottom of the table remains as settled as Burnham’s position at the top – with Ivan Lewis and Liam Byrne remaining in the bottom two places.

The full table is below:

1	Andy Burnham	(-)
2	Jon Cruddas	(Up 3)
3	Tom Watson	(Up 4)
4	Chuka Umunna	(Down 1)
5	Yvette Cooper	(Down 3)
6	Hilary Benn	(-)
7	Ed Balls	(Down 3)
8	Rachel Reeves	(-)
9	Sadiq Khan	(Up 3)
10	Angela Eagle	(Up 1)
11	Harriet Harman	(Down 1)
12	Emily Thornberry	(Up 2)
13	Douglas Alexander	(Down 4)
14	Tessa Jowell	(Up 2)
15	Maria Eagle	(-)
16	Jim Murphy	(Down 3)
17	Jon Trickett	(Up 7)
18	Liz Kendall	(Down 1)
19	Owen Smith	(Up 1)
20	Vernon Coaker	(Down 1)
21	Mary Creagh	(Down 3)
22	Michael Dugher	(Up 3)
23	Margaret Curran	(-)
24	Rosie Winterton	(Up 2)
25	Caroline Flint	(Down 4)
26	Stephen Twigg	(Down 4)
27	Ivan Lewis	(-)
28	Liam Byrne	(-)

http://twitter.com/johnringer John Ringer

We haven’t heard much from Andy since the NHS bill went through. Not that I dislike him, but I wonder why he’s done so consistently well in the ratings. Must be the eyes…
- Alan Giles
  
  I think the big plus point for Andy is that when he does speak, he does so with a degree of passion, missing from most of the rest of the cast.
  
  I also think being Northern helps, in that he sounds more “classless” – more down to earth. He doesn’t sound like the typical Oxbridge man. I like him on a personal level, though honesty compels me to say I don’t think he would defend the NHS quite as much as the Labour health ministers of old (ending with Frank Dobson). I heard him boast on Any Questions some months ago he encouraged competition in the NHS, but compared to Andrew Lansley – No contest. Whatever his stance and belief I think Andy probably believes what he does is for the best, whereas with his private interests in private health I feel certain Lansley believes he should do what is best for him and his friends.
  
  As for the two bottom boys in the class, Byrne and Lewis, well….what can one say?. I think this should be a message for Ed when he does get round to the long-needed reshuffle, but it does tend to show that whereas Andy is liked and trusted because he is so different to Lansley – when you look at Grayling/Duncan-Smith (I always think of them as a couple of demonic twins) and Byrne, frankly, you can’t really get a sheet of Bronco between them.
  
  I didn’t even vote last time, by the way on the LL poll, so Liam’s many admirers and fans can’t blame me this time
  - treborc
    
    I wonder who will get the elbow with the next reshuffle, because it will show the direction of Miliband, if for example Burnham was to be moved or removed and Byrne moved side ways or upwards.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray
      
      Byrne needs to go. Its not as if he even wants the job – he fancied being Mayor of Birmingham but they had the good sense to throw out the mayor idea
  - PeterBarnard
    
    I dunno about Andy Burnham, Alan, to be truthful.
    
    I can’t remember every detail now, but when he was presenting his “National Care for the Elderly” Bill to Parliament during Labour’s last months in office, he seemed to do an awful lot of ducking and diving about the effect on the (cash payment) Disability Living Allowance.
    
    I’d also asked our Labour MP what Labour’s position was on this, and the Labour Party Briefing Paper that was sent back would have puzzled a Kremlinologist.
    
    I came away with the distinct impression that I’d be careful about “buying a used car” from Mr B.
    
    As for the other Mr B – I’d be very, very careful about buying a used car from him. When he was at the Treasury and talking one morning on “Today,” I felt like throwing something at the radio. Weasel words are second nature to him ; unfortunately, that’s all too true of 9/10 of politicians these days, regardless of party.
    - Alan Giles
      
      I have a similar attitude to Andy, myself. I like him personally – he seems fairly affable, and doesn’t have the airs and graces of some, and if I had to be stuck in a lift for an hour with a member of the shadow cabinet, I think he would be near the top of my list, compared to……well, lets not, as the saying goes, go there.
      
      Certainly on his AQ performance he was at great pains to point out that he didn’t oppose privatisation in the NHS per se’ and said that he had started the process – once again giving the tacit impression that variations on a theme of the coalition was unarguable. And there is my great problem with Labour 2012. I still get the uncomfortable impression the party just want power for it’s own sake, not for the change and good they could try to do. My fear is that if and when the Coalition lose the election we will have a form of the Blair/Brown years – not New labour revisted as such, but just a few little tweaks and carrying on much as before. Though I don’t dislike him, as such, I don’t have a great deal of confidence in Jon Crudas, certainly not as much as many do.
      - PeterBarnard
        
        Read J K Galbraith’s “The Culture of Contentment,” Alan : politics 1990 onwards completely explained.
        
        Basically : no political party these days, if it wants the keys to power, can ”frighten the horses.”
Stato

There’s no way Liam Byrne could be bottom of the table again without the rankings being fixed. I reckon it’s those pesky sick and disabled malingerers voting frequently and voting often against this great, great man. Shame on all of you! Can’t you tell iron pyrites from gold?
Jim Dandy

Where would Ed Miliband appear in a table like this were he included?
- derek
  
  Good question! if he didn’t finish top every time, the plotters would plot no ends.
  - treborc
    
    That’s why you cannot put Miliband into a Poll like this, if he kept coming middle or bottom or near the bottom it would undermine him.
derek

Surely Byrne is becoming a liability! time for a re-think on him.
- Spanky Proctor
  
  I think it’s time for Liam to “spend more time with his family”, or, if he hasn’t got one, which I kind of think he hasn’t, then I think it’s time Liam “spent more time with somebody else’s family” possibly a nice traditional Sicilian family under whose guidance he will quickly find himself “sleeping with the fishes”.
  
  Very restful I’m sure.
  
  As much for the rest of us as dinky Liam himself.
  - derek
    
    Hee! Hee! sleeping with the fish until he opens his mouth and wakes up beside a horses head.
    - treborc
      
      He is a horses head, or is it the wrong end I’m thinking of.
      - Alan Giles
        
        Well he did so much want to be a mare (sorry, Mayor)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

A solid bloc of Progress groupies at the bottom of the table….interesting
- John Dore
  
  The only thing it shows is the make up of the readership of this blog. The articles drives the nature of the readership and usually the editorial stance reflects the views of the editor.
  Whats really funny is that 95% of the shad cabinet hardly exist in the media and yet this data is somehow representative of something or some change. The bottom line is that Labour are still largely in the ground that New Labour occupied and yet this is a country mile away from your views and those of the more vocal in the comments section. Long may this be the case.
  
  Just ask yourself this outside of Ed Balls defending himself against Gideons attacks how much airtime has he had??
  - Alan Giles
    
    I think it also tells you if the more right-wing members of the shadow cabinet are as unpopular with the voters as a whole, as they are here (despite the best efforts of people like R Marchant and L Akhurst writing supportive morale-boosters, supported by posters like yourself), then the party really does have to stop wistfully looking back to New Labour, which, in the public mind is as dead as CB radio and Betamax.
    - derek
      
      Maybe we should have a poll ranking on say Byrne Vr’s Cable, to be honest I’d vote for Vince.
    - john p Reid
      
      yes but betamax was better quality than vhs, as for tom Watson didn’t he say he wanted Bob crowe and the RMT to start funding laobur again, them of trying to strike during the olympics and backing candidates who stood agians tthe labour ones
      - Alan Giles
        
        RMT money would go to the party as a whole (that’s wrong?), but there is no problem with Lord Sainsbury funding one particular section of the Labour party?. I can’t recall you objecting to that.
        
        You really should get over the paranoia you seem to exhibit towards anybody left of yourself.
      - treborc
        
        That’s everyone including the Tories.
      - john p Reid
        
        tee he,Personally I find John Dore’s personal attacks on Alan giles wrong, but trebor as somone who doens’t want laobur to win, your lies you spread about me like I use to be A tory are just trollin, Lord sainsbury funds a magazine that backs laobur and has it’s own favourite Politicans, Progress isn’t a union it doens’t support other political parties, the rules are If a union funds another party that puts candidates up agianst labour it can’t fund Laobur as a Whole and have A right to vote on it’s policies, but it can give money to individual labour M.P.s, i have no problem with the latter,
        
        For the Record Alan, Hornchurchandupminsterlaobur.org.uk will be up and running soon if you wish to submit a blog, feel free, i won’t be blogging there myself,
        What do you call being on the right of the tories Treeborc, take giving anominity to rape accused, surely Innocnet till proven guilty is A civil liberty the tories wanted this ,but it was the current Left of the front bench the Diane Abbott’s and Harriet Harman’s who wanted those accused of Rape to have their names spread accross the newspapers,
      - John Dore
        
        Oi keep me out of it.
    - John Dore
      
      Ok so looking beyond your pathological loathing of anything that isn’t left, lets look at the facts or science behind the results..
      
      What specifically in the survey connects general public opinion to a survey on a left wing blog? This is a survey of Labourlist and statistically speaking is a representative sample of Labourlist. Against a valid statistical sample of public opinion their is no connection not even close. So what is it oh mighty sage that connects this survey to the voters as a whole (I don’t have high hopes on the quality of the answer).
      
      As for your assertion that NL somehow is dead, well I can assure you that the Tories are desperate for Labour to go back to the Halcyon days of Foot and Kinnock. Sadly for you Ed Miliband is not stupid and it wont happen on his watch.
      - Alan Giles
        
        Sage, John? get some onions to go with it and you know what you can do with it.
        
        Whether you like it or not, the public turned their back on New Labour two years ago, having shown signs of losing confidence in it as early as 2005 when Blair lost half his majority in the GE of 2005. If the public wanted a re-run of it you would find certain members of the shadow cabinet were more widely regarded than they are – as it is, most politicians of all parties command little regard with the pubic as a whole.
        
        You seem to suggest because you don’t like the results of the monthly LL poll, it must be all those nasty left-wingers voting, but LL includes a passive, non-contributing audience, who read the site but don’t comment (probably because they don’t want to incur the sarcasm and abuse of certain posters), but do vote in the poll. If you read the site without prejudice you will see last week on one day alone two posters said they wouldn’t post here anymore because of the hysterical abuse of one poster in particular.
        
        The answer for the future is not the resurrection of New Labour. It’s time has past.
      - John Dore
        
        That is all hearsay and full of assumptions. That does not answer the question, you said:
        
        “Right-wing members of the shadow cabinet are as unpopular with the voters as a whole.”
        
        You have not substantiated your point. I could easily say that look at Foot and Kinnock % of the vote and that is representative of public opinion on the left. As for the 2010 election result that was more the damning verdict on an individual Brown that NL.
        
        I’m happy knowing that EM is hardly about to revert to some unelectable ideological stance that you support.
      - Alan Giles
        
        Go to some of the newspaper sites, especially when Byrne has been pontificating about welfare and see what the readers have to say about him – they are not LL contributors. Listen to the audience on Any Questions or the correspondents to Any Answers.
        
        I have never suggested Ed Miliband is a reincarnation of Labour of the 1980s – unlike some of you I never bought into the “Red Ed” claptrap.
        
        But the problems of 2015 will not be solved by closing your eyes and pretending it is May 2nd 1997 again. Blair might (arguably) have had the answers in 1997. His acolytes don’t have them now – it seems to be a question of slightly re-arranging the front room while Jon Crudas and co engage in 3 years blue skies thinking. It is not an election winning formula.
      - John Dore
        
        More hearsay, anecdotes? Nobody but politico’s know who he is.
        
        …and what is this “unlike some of you I never bought the red Ed” blah. Since when have I ever called him Red Ed you disgusting libellous lying toad? Your mouth is one great stream of crap.
      - derek
        
        John, we’ve an old saying up here in the North, if u can’t hold your tongue then expect to meet on the field, I guess if u were a Northerner you’d have a daily booking on the field.
      - treborc
        
        I doubt he’d turn up…..
      - John Dore
        
        Given, that Derek is a two bit loser, you’re absolutely right.
      - derek
        
        When trouble comes, wise men take to their work, weak men take to the woods.
      - John Dore
        
        P
        o
        o
        p
        s
      - derek
        
        Fido!
      - Alan Giles
        
        Dignity, John, dignity. We all know you know how to spell “cr*p” since you use it so often.
        
        Just to anwer one point when I said “like some of you” I was referring to LL posters in general, not you. The world doesn’t revolve around you, John, not even LL.
        
        I really would suggest since I annoy you so much and you do the same to me, we just ignore each other.
        
        Your playground lavatory langauge is not a good advert for Labour, new, old or in-between
      - John Dore
        
        Crap.
      - Alan Giles
        
        Do you suffer from coprophagia John?
      - treborc
        
        wind
      - John Dore
        
        P
        o
        o
        p
        s
      - john p Reid
        
        I think Labour is spreading to the left, there’s people Like Andy Newmanwho stood for Socialist workers party in 2005 ,who’s been trying to oust Progress magazine and Dan Hodges who puts on His Blog Trotskyiteunity about Chairman Mao being a good bloke who didn’t kill Millions of people he rejoined Labour a couple of years ago, And Sunny Hundal who backed the Greens in 2010 who tried to get Alex Hilton ousted, Or Medhi hasan who said something about non muslims being animals, He’s joined and has tried to oust the Blairites, Or Laurie Penny backed Of diane ABBOTT WHO SAID Chairman Mao DID MORE GOOD THAN Harm
      - AlanGiles
        
        If we are honest about it, there is no way Labour is going to veer to the left under the current leadership, and with people like Marchant more or less implying that if there isn’t a convincing win at Corby, things will be a bit ropey, my honest belief is if there is a change of leadership in or before 2015 it will to put somebody on the right into the job – probably somebody approved by Progress. Perhaps Big brother himself?.
        
        I don’t think those of you on the right have anything to fear
        
        As for Hodges, given his stance and Telegraph articles I am genuinely surprised he doesn’t leave the party of his own accord – perhaps he will when his mum retires from the HoC?
      - Alan Giles
        
        John P: Do you seriously believe Labour will lurch to the left under the present leadership and management?
        
        If so, with respect, you must be the only one who does.
        
        Each new prospective candidate appears to be poured from the same mould – where are the Bob Marshall-Andrews or Clare Shorts of the future?. Very few would be prepared to say what they believe – they are too interested in getting to the top as quickly as possible. Even now they are probably practising their applause for next months conference.
        
        As regards Hodges, I am genuinely surprised, given his stance and Telegraph outpourings, that he doesn’t leave the party of his own accord (perhaps he will when mum retires).
        
        I don’t think anyone on the right has any cause to worry about the party becoming a left-wing party again. Even if they lose in 2015, no doubt Big brother will succeed to the throne for “one more push” cheered on by R Maarchant, T Blair, L Akehurst and a number of LL posters.
      - john p Reid
        
        Sorry haven’t been blogging for a while,trying to Merge Hornchurch,Romford and Upminster to form a havering labour Party, My point is that the Public here ff beat comments and it portrays labour as being more to the left than it was, In 1985 Labour had retracted its Leave Europe, Buy Back council homes policies and Got rid of militant, But I recall A 1987 Tory election Broadcast that Had Comments form Prospective candidates saying things Like the Brighton Hotel IRA bomb attack was Justified In getting rid of the Tories, One Labour candidate said If we lose the election we’ll arm the workers and Storm parliament with guns, and It’s not only Now, so called Extremists who have rejoined Putting things up about ousting progress and Admiring Stalin, We hade Sadiq Khan Defending Corrupt Copper Ali Diziae, Karen Buck said that The Tories don’t want The Poor to bread, Katy Clark M.P wants to ban kettling and Riot Police and Diane Abbott has form For at least 11 comments over the Years ranging from Her All White people are racist, Sharing a Stage with Masked Members of the IRA, Finnish nurses, Posh White boys, ,or that Its racist to criticise her for sending her kids to Private school,
        As for Your view that If Ed loses the election that Luke Akehurst will want him to be replaced by Big brother and that those who feel Ed is wrong to be turning a blind eye to the Idea that we’re swinging to the left when we’re not, For A start Luke Akehurst was Ed’s biggest supporter for the Leadership and Has Backed him ever since, Blair was Of all people not one of the one more push brigade, saying that Labour had to totally reinvent itself to win, After all when Labour started to make itself re-electable in 1987,and we were only 2 points behind on the start of that Election campaign, It wasn’t just the Tories running scare stories of the Loony left and Ken Livingstone saying ‘scrap the army’ we had to totally rebrand ourselves away from Tax and spend, Not being able to control the unions,
        If labour Do lose the Next Election and there’s another leader It won’t be David M, but the Point after 1983 was that Tony Benn said we lost as it wasn’t left wing enough, if there’s a new leader in the summer of 2015 who says we lost because we didn’t admit we were wrong on the economy ,after 2010 then that leader will Probably have Tom Watson saying ‘we’ve lost as it wasn’t left wing enough’ and remember when Kinnock took over within A year he was Called ‘Ramsey Mckinnock’ and it will be no small price that those who are coming out with get rid of Progress, ‘it’s alright for Livingstone to back an independent for Mayor of Tower Hamlets’, ‘but it’s not alright for Dan Hodges to write for the Telegraph’ will be the ones saying that we need to appease non Labour affiliated Unions to win in 2020, rather than try to find ways to spend on the services that are needed, rather than waste money on Non essential referendums for regional mayors
      - Tape Measure
        
        That’s a long one!
      - derek
        
        Jeez John people want new labour back like a hole in the head and I’ve no idea why you hold such vile and bile hatred of @Alan, you’ve truly lost the plot when you resort to childish attack mode and the substantive point is within the article itself.
      - John Dore
        
        Oh the usual gang mentality Derek? You are so obvious.
      - derek
        
        It’s better than being unpredictable and lose John.
      - http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone
        
        “As for your assertion that NL somehow is dead”
        
        But, John, anti-establishment Rob has claimed the same:
        
        http://thecentreleft.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/new-labour-is-dead-new-britain-still.html#more
  - Brumanuensis
    
    As Shadow Chancellor, quite a lot. If you think the average CLP is New Labour, well…
- Alan Giles
  
  Stand by for some tantrums and personal insults from a certain Book in the library, Mike for daring to say that (but you are right of course)
Brumanuensis

Burnham is one of the best Parliamentary performers in the PLP, so he deserves his ranking. If Byrne comes bottom again, do the Tories get to keep him?
Robert_Crosby

The people – rightly ot wrongly – identified as ‘modern day Blairites’ aren’t liked by most within the Party or by the public at large. There are principally two reasons for this. The first is that they are seen as having been (and still being) too cosy with people who haven’t got scruples. Many of these figures are also seen as being very greedy and unpleasant people – and Labour voters in particular don’t like it.

The second reason is that they just aren’t up to it. I saw Twigg on the televison news offering platitudinous “congratulations” to the people who have just received their A Level results. Utterly vacuous when the man has nothing else to say at all in defence of public education. If it wasn’t for Byrne, I would expect the fool to finish bottom in the poll. He needs to learn the art of responsible and vigorous opposition rather than self-serving capitulation. Gove – a prince of idiots even amongst this bunch – is on a wrecking spree and Twigg has nothing to say. Disgusting.
- AlanGiles
  
  Well said, Robert. I agree with every word of your post
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray
  
  I like Stephen Twigg as an individual but he is much stronger on foreign affairs – I think he isn’t in the best role
  - Robert_Crosby
    
    It’s all about opinions, isn’t it? I think the bloke is an absolute lightweight and a dead loss if I’m honest. His handling of the education brief is shambolic given what’s at stake. If he can “shine” in another post, then I’ll accept that and it will be fine by me.
Simon Jones

Anyone who reads anything into these rankings beyond being an indication of what a group of self-selecting, heavily left-of-centre, online hacks think is deluding themselves.

This list is a fun read for two minutes a month but I challenge you to find an awareness of Emily Thornberry, Liz Kendall, Owen Smith, Mary Creagh, Michael Dugher, Rosie Winterton or Ivan Lewis in the general public beyond their own constituencies and their families.
Robert_Crosby

I’m not really sure on what basis anyone outside of the Commons can be expected to judge whether Rosie Winterton has been doing a good (or a bad) job?
000a000

It’s a very poor reflection on the Labour Party that Watson is 3rd and Balls 7th.
http://twitter.com/Chas_Boz David Arrowsmith

He also has a nice line in denying the disaster that occurred during Blair’s adventure in Iraq, sharing the blame for killing 100,000 during the war.
Billsilver

Looking at the range of talent and skill in the shadow cabinet list I want to ask where the talent skills and experience for the future are.

Who has ever heard of anyone below number 14 in the list? And what have they done in the wider world to merit a place in a putative government legislating on how we lead our lives?
JB

Utterly bizarre movements – I could not tell you what the likes of Burnham or Trickett have actually done in the past month. Looks like frontbenchers’ ranks are pretty much pre-determined by their post and their politics rather than their effectiveness or activity

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