Attending the Birmingham hustings has help me make my mind up

By Ian Robathan

I’d been looking forward to the Birmingham hustings for the past week, since it appeared to me that Andy Burnham and Ed Balls upped their games in the media. I was looking forward to understanding who I would vote for and clarifying what I thought about the candidates. I arrived at the Great Hall at Birmingham University (a great venue for hustings) about half an hour before the start and was told 600 members had registered, such was the interest in the event and the party – which is very encouraging. After chatting to a couple of people it became obvious there is good optimism within the party, and its an optimism the leaders must harness.

Kevin Maguire from the Mirror chaired the meeting and did very well – and wiith over 100 questions submitted, the punters clearly wanted answers. Unfortunately, my question did not get picked, which I’m not too surprised about given the nature of the question – it was about Peter Mandlesson and David Miliband’s connection to New Labour.

The candidates looked relaxed and over the 90 minutes a number of questions were answered with little prevarication. Maguire said that there was not much disagreement between the candidates, but I felt an undercurrent of tension there which the candidates held back on.

I learnt nothing new, except for one impassioned plea from Andy Burnham encouraging the entire labour movement to join a campaign against the Tory privatisation of the NHS. His plan is to get a million signatures against the colaition’s plans, to present to parliament. Consider it signed.

Apart from that, the hustings weren’t too exciting.

We arrived at the final statements, which I will summarise below; the order below is that in which I which I intend to vote:

Ed Miliband – I was leaning towards Ed before the meeting, and am now convinced. He was passoinate about what he stood for and his values sound like the new start we need. Ed probably needs to learn to connect with people more but his policies seem the best for the party at this stage. Rousing applause.

Andy Burnham – Andy did well with what is effectively a ‘save the NHS’ stance. I don’t like all of his personal views, but he connected with me for his passion and used the S-word – socialist.

Ed Balls – 5 weeks ago, Ed was 5th for me; I thought he was arrogant and too aggressive. However, he seems to have improved, and his summary speech was strong today: passionate against the Tories’ proposals and passionate against the Lib Dems. His past, however, is a big failing for me.

Diane Abbott – Diane plays the outsider card very well and I can support many of her policies. However, when she said she has never changed her beliefs the obvious own goal was sending her children to private school. I would like to see her as part of the shadow cabinet; she can bring members’ views to the party leadership. She got the biggest appluase at the end of her closing statement, but not for me.

David Miliband – I like what he says, I like the vast majority of what he proposes. However, he has a history I cannot ignore and his closing speech was the worsst of the five, with muted applause. Sorry, David, but I remain unconvinced by you and can not believe you will follow through on what you say.

The hustings were well organised and congratulations to the West Midlands region for that. The candidates did not sound tired as I’d expected them to – and in the long run I think this contest will do the party good.

The real test, of course, is to come. Members should be not just consulted and used, but harnessed and involved in the future.