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Former labour Party PM Tony Blair doubts Ed Miliband can win 2015 general election, UK election 2015 updates, United Kingdom General Election updates, UK political News 2014 2015
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:22
Former labour Party PM Tony Blair doubts Ed Miliband can win 2015 general election
Tony Blair has cast doubt on the likelihood of Labour leader Ed Miliband winning the next election, saying it could well be a contest that repeats previous Conservative victories against a traditional leftwing party.
The former Labour prime minister has until now disputed reports that he does not believe Miliband can win in May.
However, he told the Economist that the result might well be an election “in which a traditional leftwing party competes with a traditional rightwing party, with the traditional result”.
Asked if he meant a Tory win, Blair said: “Yes, that is what happens.”
The former PM also said he saw no evidence of a shift to the left in public thinking after the financial crisis – a move that Miliband thinks has occurred.
“I am still very much New Labour and Ed would not describe himself in that way, so there is obviously a difference there,” he added. “I am convinced the Labour Party succeeds best when it is in the centre ground.”
In October Blair’s office insisted the former prime minister believes Miliband will win the next general election, following a report he has told friends that Labour is not ready to beat the Conservatives in May. The report in the Daily Telegraph said Blair had told long-standing political allies that David Cameron would remain in power next year because Labour has not persuaded Britain it is ready to govern.
Miliband continues to enjoy a lead in almost every opinion poll, with most suggesting Labour will at least be the largest party after next year’s election.
However, some senior Labour figures are worried about Miliband’s low personal popularity ratings and the fact he is trailing behind Cameron in terms of confidence in him running the economy.
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The comments come as Labour tried to play down a revolt among staff over its general secretary’s backing for a political consultancy to coach the party’s general election candidates.
Unionised staff at Labour’s Brewer’s Green headquarters have fired off a four-page letter of complaint to Iain McNicol, the party’s general secretary, about his involvement in Labour People – a new company set up by a 29-year-old brand consultant, Dennis Marcus.
The party officials have accused McNicol of failing to consult them about the role of the consultancy, whose aims they believe overlap with their job descriptions.
Asked about the letter, which demands answers to 13 questions about McNicol’s involvement in Labour People, party spokesmen would only say that they do not comment on internal matters.
Staff appear to have gone to some lengths to track down the involvement of McNicol in the consultancy, saying they discovered a document on an office printer that discussed potential “sensitivities” within the party about the work of Labour People.
The letter, first uncovered by the Times, raises concerns that while Labour People offers a pro bono service to candidates “at the moment”, it could become a money-making venture.
Marcus, who set up the company in October, is a former intern at the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and has also worked for a poverty project and in corporate communications. He told the Times McNicol stepped down two weeks ago as chairman of the Labour People advisory board.
Material from the Labour People consultancy claims to have the backing of Gina Miller, the philanthropist, David Offenbach, a Labour donor, and Stephen Kinnock, the son of former leader Neil Kinnock and a parliamentary candidate.
src:theguardian