Roy Hattersley on what the leadership election should be about

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Flagged up in today’s 8 in the morning briefing, Roy Hattersley has written in today’s Guardian about what the imminent Labour leadership contest should be about.

Echoing my view that this should be a considered process – a deep clean, rather than a simple personality spring clean choice between the Blairite v Brownite dogmas – Hattersley writes:

“What was once called New Labour is dead. Policy failings aside, that ill-defined and perhaps indefinable philosophy bred the worst sort of factionalism. Nothing could now more prejudice the future than a leadership election which becomes a surrogate contest between David Miliband, as Tony Blair’s heir, and Ed Balls, as Gordon Brown’s legatee. In any event, neither possesses the combination of belief and personality which makes victory possible at the general election that cannot be a full four years away.”

Hattersley sees Ed Miliband as the potential candidate to build that “radical new dawn”.

Read the full article here.