Ed’s inbox – June 8th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

If Ed Miliband could only read five blogposts each day, he’d read these ones…

Why aren’t we considering a woman? – Progress
By Rebecca Simon

The Labour party are recruiting a new general secretary. This is not news even to non-Party members. As a member I received the mail-out with the job description listing required criteria and relevant qualifications. It reads like any other job application with a clearly identified process attached to it. But few will besurprised to learn that this cannot be a genuinely competitive application process. Names are already being banded about regarding likely successors to Ray Collins. We won’t hold our breath that a random local party activist with impeccable management and fundraising credentials will stroll into Victoria Street based on the strength of a well-crafted CV and aneloquent interview.The choice will also be political: it will most likely please the unions, but almost certainly will be a man. But the receipt of the email in my inbox, with all the appearance of a real application process, allowed me to wander off in thought for a moment and think how great it would be if this was a real competition and if it was won by a woman. – Read more.

The policy review: it’s sink or swim for Ed Miliband – New Statesman
By Dan Hodges

Liam Byrne has thrown Ed Miliband a lifeline. Or handed him a noose. Which it turns out to be depends entirely on the Labour leader’s response to Byrne’s preliminary report on feedback from over 2,000 voters to the party’s policy review consultation.

According to the Guardian, a Tuesday presentation from the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions to junior shadow ministers pulled no punches. People care as much about responsibilities as rights, they were told. They want to see a tough, small c conservative response on crime, welfare reform and immigration. When it comes to international aid, they believe charity begins at home. – Read more.

Do voters really want Labour to be more right-wing? – Liberal Conspiracy
By Don Paskini

The Guardian reports that “voters want a tough responsibilities agenda, similar to that of New Labour”, based on submissions to Labour’s policy review process. Respondents want to cut crime and anti-social behaviour, reform welfare and reduce immigration, protect wage levels, cut international aid to “look after our own first”, be more Eurosceptic, reform banks and cut bankers’ bonuses, reduce tuition fees, reverse police cuts, increase apprenticeships and expand youth services.

Some thoughts on this. Firstly, is this really that similar to New Labour? Cutting bankers’ bonuses, reducing immigration, protecting wage levels, Euroscepticism, cutting international aid, reducing tuition fees…all the opposite of what New Labour stood for or did while in office. Discussing new policies through the prism of “is it what Tony would have done fifteen years ago” is not very illuminating. – Read more.

50 Less MPs. 600 More Headaches – Next Left
By Olly Parker

Parliamentary watchers have been quietly musing over this one in the shadows for a while now, but after a year the boundary review makes its first major appearance in the political spotlight after the Guardian published an interactive map based on projections by Lewis Baston of the Electoral Reform Society.

The Guardian, like the majority of the left-wing blogosphere, knows that any headline which reads “Nick ‘Thick’ Clegg Does Something A Bit Thick” tends to generate a disproportionate amount of clicks and comments from the angry brigade. Therefore initial reports on the new seat predictions have been reported through that prism as Baston’s model predicts that “24% of Lib-Dem turkeys will be voting for Christmas” (© the angry commenter) when the bill goes through Parliament later this year. – Read more.

A future fair for all Cameroonians: African party steals Labour branding – Political Scrapbook
By Political Scrapbook

The Cameroon Reformation Party isn’t a Notting Hill-based group of Conservative über-reformers but the latest political movement on the scene in West Africa. And their corporate livery has, shall we say, more than a passing similarity with that of the UK Labour Party.

The party’s website, which invites visitors to follow them on “Tweeter”, resembles its Labour counterpart following an assault with Microsoft Paint and is replete with stolen slogans including “A future fair for all” and “Join a new generation for change”. – Read more.

Our suggestions for Ed’s inbox are limited by what we read – so if you’ve seen a blogpost that should be in Ed’s inbox, let us know.