One of my little jobs over the weekend will be to make my final decision and cast my vote for the leader of the Labour Party.
I must admit that this year I am finding it amazingly difficult. In every other leadership election I have felt that there was, for me, an obvious choice. Not so this time.
I'm sure four of the five candidates are "competent". They won't be a disaster as Leader of the Opposition, they may not be bad if they could be APPOINTED Prime Minister. But I stress appointed.
My concerns surround their ability to actually be elected. None of them has that little bit extra that took most previous Labour leaders to office. They seem ideal courtiers rather than battlefield leaders.
I may be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I want to see the party prosper and back into office. Just a few months of coalition government already means there is much to put right.
And I take comfort from the fact that Labour's least charismatic leader in history, Clem Attlee, achieved most as Prime Minister.![]()
I must admit that this year I am finding it amazingly difficult. In every other leadership election I have felt that there was, for me, an obvious choice. Not so this time.
I'm sure four of the five candidates are "competent". They won't be a disaster as Leader of the Opposition, they may not be bad if they could be APPOINTED Prime Minister. But I stress appointed.
My concerns surround their ability to actually be elected. None of them has that little bit extra that took most previous Labour leaders to office. They seem ideal courtiers rather than battlefield leaders.
I may be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. I want to see the party prosper and back into office. Just a few months of coalition government already means there is much to put right.
And I take comfort from the fact that Labour's least charismatic leader in history, Clem Attlee, achieved most as Prime Minister.
