Leeds leadership hustings: The personality contest

By Bryony King

This morning I attended my first ‘in person’ Labour leadership hustings, organised by Unite, at the Queens hotel in Leeds, and found it a very interesting experience. Of course, I have made it very clear who my first choice nomination will go to and I was duly outside the venue early with other Ed M supporters with our posters and leaflets, but I hadn’t yet 100% decided what order my second, third, etc. etc., candidate preferences would be and although some like to call people like me who have decided who they are supporting “cheerleaders” I am interested in what the other candidates have to say, happily clapped when they said something I agreed with and wouldn’t be unhappy if at least two of the other four became leader rather than Ed. Who I would be unhappy about should become clear by the end of this post.

The hustings debate itself, although interesting, was nothing out of the ordinary. Topics under debate ranged from Trident, to engaging young voters, to re-regulating the buses. The candidates all gave the answers I would expect and have heard before. What I decided to pay attention to, and now blog about, was their personalities. I know many people, including myself to some extent, hate the idea of politics becoming all about personality but the fact is if you want a great leader they have to have the whole package to appeal to the wider public and engage the electorate: the policies and the personality. Now that election TV debates are also inevitable you need to have a leader who is good in that type of situation, good with presentation, can talk to people and can really listen. Nick Clegg managed to trigger Lib-Dem-Clegg-Mania (mania being the operative word) for a couple of weeks simply by remembering people’s names and mastering the ability to look into a camera. Personality, personableness and presentation do matter.

My first interactions with the candidates today was outside the entrance to the Queens Hotel, where we got many odd looks from passersby. There were supporters outside for David Miliband and Andy Burnham, as well as myself and the Ed M crew, but a distinct lack of Diane and Ed B supporters. First to arrive, by car, was David – who said hello to a couple of people outside, who I think were his supporters – looked like he was about to come and say hello to myself and another but then saw our Ed M posters and reconsidered. I suppose this is understandable but still a tad rude. After all I have nothing against David Miliband and would have happily said hello.

I can’t remember if Andy or Ed M appeared next but both acted in a similar manner. I didn’t really notice Andy arrive properly because he seemed to appear at the other side of the entrance, said hello to his supporters who were at that side and then went in. Ed M walked around the corner from the train station, said hello to our group, posed for a nice photo and then also went inside. By this point David and Andy’s supporters had followed their candidates inside but we stayed out for a while. Ed Balls arrived and slipped in almost unnoticed (actually unnoticed by somebody I was with). Diane Abbott, on the other hand, I presume sloped in via a back entrance because there was no sign of her out front.

Just before the hustings began I was milling around handing out leaflets in the hall between the ballroom, where the hustings took place, and the room where the candidates were. Ed Balls nearly knocked me over at one point as he stormed by. As I had waited around to hand out Ed M paraphernalia I ended up walking into the event behind the candidates when we were called in and right behind Andy Burnham, which I didn’t notice until he looked around and said to me something like, “I worry that Smiths t-shirts seem to be becoming just a fashion item now” (I should probably explain that I was wearing my excellent The Smiths, The Queen is Dead, t-shirt-dress). At the time I was concerned that he might be implying that I was wearing the t-shirt as a fashion item and not as a real fan, so I replied along the lines of, “excuse me but I am a massive fan” to which he replied that so was he and he’d seen them live. I barely had chance to express my jealousy before he was ushered off for the hustings to begin.

As I said above, none of the candidates surprised me with what the said policy and value wise but there were a few interesting details I picked up on that relate more to presentation. Unfortunately I have a very limited amount of concentration and often find myself picking up on a point or topic somebody has mentioned and drifting off into thought about it for a few minutes. Today I found that Ed M (naturally) and Andy held my attention the best, although in fairness to David I was more inclined to drift when he was speaking because he is the one I have heard speak the most in the past, as arguably the most “high-profile” candidate. I don’t know if this is just my experience but I think it does matter when we do need a leader who can engage and captivate people. Although, again in fairness to David, it is unlikely that the general public have heard him speak as much as I have and he will still have the “fresh” appeal to them that matters.

Diane Abbott annoyed me greatly with many quips about the other candidates, something a few people also mentioned to me afterwards and described it as “sniping”. I fear she is playing the “LOOK HOW DIFFERENT TO THEM I AM. I AM A WOMAN” card too much, or at least it was the way it came across when she was making pointed references about men in shirts and ties and how politics needs to be different. Personally i have nothing against male politicians in shirts and ties. I also thought she gave very populist answers at times, advocating scrapping Trident altogether and abolishing tuition fees. Policies, as Nick Clegg found, that sound good in theory but in reality and practicality are not feasible.

Ed Balls didn’t make much of an impression on me. This could be, again, because I am rather used to him but he is just not a politician I find hugely inspiring, although I agreed with him on several points. I simply don’t think he has the gravitas to be a party leader and don’t find him particularly personable or friendly, from the couple of experiences where I have come into contact with him, not including him nearly knocking me over in the hall.

What happened when the hustings were officially over I found more illuminating. Diane Abbott seemed to vanish straight away, without speaking to anybody. If she did it was very briefly and unnoticeably. David seemed to chat with a few people, again I seem to think with those who had come along to support him, but then left shortly afterwards. I thought Ed Balls had gone too but then spotted him striding about later so I can’t say if he had stayed around to chat to people or not. Andy and Ed M were quite obviously moving around the room chatting to various groups of people for quite a while. I was hanging around talking to people I knew and sometime later, when not many people were left, ended up back in the hall chatting with a fellow Ed M supporter I had met and waiting to say goodbye to a couple of people who hadn’t come out. At this point Andy Burnham came out of the ballroom in front of me so I nodded and greeted him with “Smiths fan” and he came over to chat with us for a while about the Smiths, politics and my friend Laura (who he had met at an event last night and who seems to have made quite an impression on him). Meanwhile Ed M was also still chatting and saying goodbye to people on his way out. Both only left and stopped chatting when they were told by their team they had to go.

Based on this experience I would rate the candidates thus:

Ed Miliband

Andy Burnham

David Miliband

Ed Balls

Diane Abbott

I feel I wouldn’t be happy with the outcome if Diane or Ed B were to become leader and this was pretty much my view when the contest began and what I have seen so far has only cemented this view. Obviously I really want Ed M to get it and believe this would be the best outcome for the future of the party but I would rally behind David or Andy if this wasn’t the case. I say this because I am getting tired of the “cheerleader” labels hanging about as if I only support Ed M and hate all the other candidates. I don’t want more factionalism to kick off after this leadership contest like the Blairite-Brownite ridiculousness that still haunts us.

I will be attending another hustings next month and it will be interesting to see if I find any difference in the various candidates behavior between now and then. Personality-wise and behavior wise, for me, Diane and Ed B are already out of the contest.