Labour 2010

Every Tuesday is politics Tuesday here at 'Inside My Head'. This week's blog post is my thoughts and feelings on what has been a long few months. The race for the Labour Leadership.

                                                      (Photo Credit: Zimbio from Day 2 of conference.)
As I mentioned in my blog last week there was still 24 hours to cast your vote (if you were a labour party member or union member). Well everything came to an end on Saturday evening. The time was 5pm. The place was Manchester. A couple of months ago I had every intention of applying for a ticket to conference, however a new job and training course, made me have to cancel that thought. So at 5pm on Saturday my phone starts to vibrate in my pocket at work. Just as I am about to open the message a handful of other messages comes through. The new leader of the Labour party has been announced. It is a Miliband. However it is not the Miliband I had voted for. It was his younger and slightly less well known brother Ed Miliband.

I was a little disappointed to say the least. For a while I have believed that David Miliband was to be the future of the Labour Party. What is even more disheartening is that there was 1% difference in the votes. It wasn't until I finished work at 10pm that I would find out how close margin the votes had come. Ed Miliband was now the party leader thanks largely to Ed Balls and the Unions. It wasn't until Ed Balls votes were spread out that Ed Miliband had the majority he needed.

So with the Labour Party Conference in full swing David Miliband's future is still not been made public. Nobody should blame him if he chooses not work under his brother. I hope he does though. I still believe (and so do most of the MP's and members of the party since he won more votes in these two very important areas) that he is still an asset to the party. The thing all labour party members need to do now is put all of our support behind Ed Miliband. He is the future of the party. He needs us to join together. So come the next general election the man in number 10 is Mr Miliband.

So hope everyone is having a good Tuesday.


****Special thanks to Liza Harding for her tweets the last few days and months. She has been a great supporter for the Labour Party (as well as making me feel that I've been at Lab10 :) with her pics and tweets.****

The Final Countdown

Every Tuesday here on my blog is political Tuesdays. Here I give my views on stuff that has been written heard or watched in the press. As anyone who has read my blog will know I have been following and voting in this years Labour Leadership race.

I've been having somewhat of an 80's feeling day today. After watching OTH (One Tree Hill) this morning and there homage to John Hughes, I've been listening to some classic 80's tracks. I find it kind of ironic and in no way planned but, for some reason I've not been able to get the following track out of my head. What does this have to do with 'Politics Tuesday' I hear you ask. Well. With tomorrow being the final day for voting I thought this was a rather fitting song :)


So for anybody who has yet to still vote you can so off the website on your ballot paper. So weather you have voted David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham, Dianne Abbott or Ed Balls the wait is almost over.


Happy Tuesday everyone :)

Gordon Brown's Next Chapter.

Every Tuesday at 'Inside My Mind' is politics Tuesday. Now then I've noticed as of late I seem to have been doing a little bit of moaning. My apologies. I was reading online today about what plans Gordon Brown has since May 2010 he stepped down as Prime Minister paving the way for the Cameron/Clegg fiasco we have been living through since :(.

It seems Gordon Brown is going back to the education side of politics. From 20th September he will be guest lecturing at Harvard University. I personally think this is a good thing for Gordon Brown to do. I know he was never a popular labour leader, however it seems from interviews and programmes I have seen, he has a good political mind. Here he can share his views on international politics, to the newest generation of political minds.

Gordon Brown was never going to follow in the footsteps of Tony Blair as they seem like very different people. Gordon Brown it seems is instead following the educational and charity route post Prime Minister.

I think this is a nice story of a Labour Party Member in a positive manner.

(As a side note any Labour Party members who have yet to vote for the next leader remember David Miliband is the face of the future :) none of the other's in the running will give Cameron a fight in the next General Election.)

My Love Affair with Politics

I have been voting since I was 18. The year was 2001. I walked into my local polling station and cast my first Labour vote. Little did I know that voting would always be important too me.

I am a strong believer that everyone must vote. I think it's every ones right. Not just because I'm a woman and 60 plus years ago I would not have been able too. But because we are lucky in our country that we can hold elections and not be forced to vote one way or another. It also frustrates me when people complain about the wrong people being in power. These are the same people who never vote. At least by voting you know you have done your part.

As it is glaringly obvious. I am a Labour supporter. I will probably always vote for the party. I will listen to what 'Tory' voters opinions are, but will more often than not not agree with what they are saying. So the last few days twitter has been all a buzz with the labour leadership race. Including various 'twibbons' where individuals can show there support. I believe that whoever (and I'm hoping David Miliband) becomes the next Labour party leader has the chance to really make a difference.

For young adults (18 to 30) we have be more invested in politics. After all it's our future that is in the politicians hands, no matter which party you support. All that I ask is that we should all do our bit. If there are things you are unhappy with let your local politicians know. How else are we suppose to get our voices heard.

Race for the Labour Leadership

On 6th May Labour no longer had the majority of votes to run the country. It soon became apparent that Gordon Brown was not going to be leader of his party for long. While I have always felt sorry for Gordon Brown, I too thought the party needed a new face.

David Miliband seems to be the frontrunner at the moment. I personally think David Miliband should be the most logical next party leader. He has been with the Labour party since 1994. Though wasn't elected to parliament till 2001. He also has the right mix of youth (44 yrs old) and experience (last Foreign Secretary). The most promising thing in David Miliband's rise is that he is part of a small group of Labour politicians known as 'Primrose Hill Gang'. These are advisor's and Labour politicians who were said to look beyond Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. And look to the future of the Labour party.

Ed Miliband, younger brother of David, is also seen as a good candidate. Though he is a lot less known than his older brother he too is said to be a member of the 'Primrose Hill Gang'. Ed Miliband seems to be the only person who can give David Miliband a run for his money.

Other candidates include: Ed Balls, Dianne Abbott and John McDonnell. All three are seen as key Labour party members. However they like the support from their peers that both Miliband brothers have inside the party.


(Photo Credit - Getty Images)

Lisa Marie
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May 2010 When British Politics Became the Never Ending Story!

May 6th was a historic day for British politics. It was the day we had a hung parliament. Who would have known on that Thursday morning when people were going out to vote, that the story would remain in the news cycle for the next four days. It was always expected to be a historic election. Many people (myself included) thought that the Lib Dem's were going to gain far more seats than expected. But nobody would have expected it to be the story that kept on giving.

The last time Britain had a hung parliament was 1974 way before I was born. Not forgetting this was a time when news was not a 24 hour phenomenon. You would be hard pressed to turn the television on over the past 4/5 days to not hear the words 'hung parliament' or to hear one of the three party leaders uttering the words 'for the good of the country'. We are also in an age of social media. Where people can voice there views online instantly. The likes of Twitter and Facebook made it possible for people to voice there opinions straight away, to the masses.

An even more historic day was 11th May. After joining forces David Cameron became Prime Minister. After a decade of wanting to take back parliament the Tories finally had the keys to number 10 again. Where Cameron looks to be less liked by the British public than Margaret Thatcher (1979 – 1990). Only time will tell if Cameron will mess up the country any more than it already is.

So while I am disappointed we now have a Tory government with the help of the Lib Dem's we must say 'Goodbye' to Gordon Brown. It was nice while it lasted and here's hoping Labour can come back even stronger in four years time.


(Photo credit - Getty Images)
Lisa Marie
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