New Labour heavyweights join debate over party’s future

Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell have all weighed in on the debate over Labour’s future direction in The Times today. While Campbell played an informal role advising Ed Miliband, particularly on preparation for TV debates, Blair and Mandelson were distant during the Miliband years, and were usually couched their criticism of the leader in indirect terms.

But in this morning’s LabourList email (which you can sign up to here), Conor Pope reported that the New Labour figures were now not holding back in their advice:

“The Times have continued their helpfully titled ‘Labour In Crisis’ feature today (if you missed it yesterday, catch up on LabourList here), with a series of interviews with big Labour figures today. 

Tony Blair says that Labour “has to be based on the centre ground” – but makes it clear that he does not believe that the centre of politics means “splitting the difference between progressive and conservative positions”.

Peter Mandelson, meanwhile, stresses that the electoral strategy is focussed on the ensuring the party “win over Conservative voters to win in key marginals in both the north and south of England in order to get a majority in the House of Commons”. Which sounds a lot like what I said last week.

And Alastair Campbell has said it’s no more Mr Nice Guy from him. Whoever becomes the new leader in September (and he won’t be backing any candidate), will have three years to prove themselves. If by that time it looks like Labour can’t win, he “will happily lead the charge to try to replace whoever is leader.””

Yet on this lunchtime’s Daily Politics show, Blair’s Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said that the task at hand for the new leader would take longer than three years, and that Campbell should “stay at home”. Lord Prescott also laid into David Miliband, who was interviewed in yesterday’s Times, saying the former Foreign Secretary should “shut up”.