Alan Johnson As Labour Leader?

[Zacs-Master]

What do the Labour supporters think and would it sway any non Labour supporters?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/08/ed-miliband-crisis-labour-mps-back-leadership-change

[Sqad]

Zac....yes....a good bet, but all too late for Labour now.

AJ has a bit of "form" as he left a Cabinet post to "spend more time with his family"......but yes.......AJ, but too late for Labour.

[Cloverjo]

I'd be glad to see AJ taking charge, but I fear it's too late to do much good now. Might as well try, though. We have no hope with EM. I think Johnson would be a good leader.

[Zacs-Master]

Pretty clear so far. Papering over the cracks, it would appear.

[janbee]

Alan Johnson, if he were a few years younger, would be an excellent and popular choice. Sadly, although he's not an old man, I fear he may be too old for such a stressful job. One thing is for sure though, Mr Ed. has to go. He's not even popular within his own party. He was the reason I resigned my membership of the Labour Party and I told them at the time, that he would be a bad leader and very much the wrong choice. Who would trust anybody who stabbed his own brother in the back, at the 11th hour, to get the top job?

[ichkeria]

Alan Johnson has already rubbished the undoubted madness of labour changing its leader at this stage.
"For the avoidance of any doubt, I have no intention of going into frontline politics. I support Ed Miliband" he is reported as saying on Friday.

[youngmafbog]

Yes but 48 hors is a long time in politics.

Personally I hope theykeep Ed as with him labour have no chance.

[ToraToraTora]

Ed's a disaster but it's too late to change now and anyone with any aspirations in that area will be in hiding until they lose in May. They'll just have to get through the election and then get a new leader.

[Gromit]

I agree with ToraToraTora.

[mikey4444]

Its policies that count, not personalities. If people are willing to vote Labour with Johnson but not with Ed, perhaps they should question their loyalty to Labour. They either want a future Labour Government or they don't.

Popularity of political Leaders waxes and wanes all the time. I have little time for beauty contests. People should study the facts, not the gossip.

[Zacs-Master]

If it's irrelevant to the policies Mikey, why do all parties make such a fuss about who their leader is?

[mikey4444]

To win over the confused I expect Zacs, or floating voters as they are otherwise known as.

[Zacs-Master]

So it is important then.

[mikey4444]

Sadly that may very well be true Zacs.

[Zacs-Master]

'Twas ever thus Mikey.

[mikey4444]

We live in a televisual world Zacs, where appearance is now more important than content. But it wasn't always so. Attlee won a huge landslide victory for Labour, over a supposedly unbeatable war hero, in 1945. He did this despite not being anything like as well known as Churchill.

He apparently had the charisma of a paper bag. Churchill said of him once that "an empty taxi cab pulled up in Downing Street and Clement Attlee got out"

Perhaps in 1945 people were more interested in things of real importance, rather than celebrity nonsense.

[Zacs-Master]

I think mentioning Churchill in your argument didn't really bolster it. But I see what you mean.

[Gromit]

Both Cameron and Miliband were elected as leader by people other than their MPs. Cameron wooed the blue rinse brigade in the constituencies and Miliband got the deciding not off the Unions.

So both have suffered by not being elected by their MPs and there will always be those MPs who wished their preferred candidate had won. So there will always be threats of mutiny.

To find 20 Labour MPs who are dissatisfied out of 270 is not difficult.

It will make for an interesting General election.

[mikey4444]

On the subject of Churchill, I have always found it difficult to understand why he failed so badly, to win the 1945 election.

I do not worship at Churchills feet like some but he was undoubtedly just the person we needed during WW2. He was tough and belligerent and his bloody mindedness was very helpful. But the very minute the British people had the opportunity, they kicked him out of power, in their millions.

My old Dad always had the opinion that the common man blamed "the establishment" for getting them into the war in the first place and were glad of their opportunity to give the ruling classes a kick up the jacksee (his words, not mine) as soon as they could, and there is maybe a lot of sense in that. Of course, he bounced back again in 1951, but it was never the same again for him.

[janbee]

David Icke would be better than Millie. At least Icke has a following, of sorts.

[mikey4444]

Would he be allowed to wear that 'horrible turquoise track suit within the confines of the Palace of Westminster though janbee ?