{UAH} Who's second in the Labour leadership election?

Comrade Akim Odong/WBK,

Here are tidbits about the Labour party elections. The Islingtom
marxist is so far ahead despite all the previous Labour leaders (
except Ed Milliband) warning the party not to vote for him. They
claim he is "unelectable", but the question they were being asked on
many programes last week is how can Jeremy be "unelectable" if
currently, the polls show he has the support of over 95% of young
people? If he can persuade Labour supporters to elect him in such
large numbers, then why can't he persuade the wider British public? I
think the other candidates are now just jockeying for position should
Corbyn fail or be removed before the next election as some senior
Blairite leaders have threatened to do- in which case they will split
up the party,



George Okello


New Statesman

Who's second in the Labour leadership election?

Cooper's team criticised by all campaigns after claiming new data
shows her ahead of Burnham.

by George Eaton Published 17 August, 2015 - 22:20

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Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper address delegates at the Progress
annual conference in central London on May 16, 2015. Photograph: Getty
Images.With all in Labour agreed that Jeremy Corbyn is in first place
in the leadership election, the battle is on to claim challenger
status. Both Andy Burnham and Yvetter Cooper's campaigns are fiercely
briefing that they are in second place. Earlier this evening, Cooper's
team announced that new data showed their candidate ahead of Burnham
in every region of the country with the latter in fourth place in
London (where a quarter of the selectorate is based). A spokesperson
said: "Andy's campaign is struggling to respond to Jeremy which is why
he is changing position from day to day.

"Labour's chances of winning the next election are at stake here with
serious consequences for all those who depend on a labour government.
Andy needs to show some leadership and be clear whether he opposes
Jeremy or not. Our figures show he will drop out in the second round
because his campaign is failing to provide an effective alternative to
Jeremy and he is losing first preferences as a consequence. If he
isn't prepared to offer an alternative to Jeremy, he needs to step
back and leave it to Yvette. And he should do the right thing by the
party and tell people who do still support him to put second
preferences for Yvette - something he is still refusing to do."
In response, however, a Burnham source accused Cooper of "a desperate,
panicked stunt" and said it was "completely untrue" that she was
second. Well, they would say that, wouldn't say? But it's not just
Team Burnham briefing their man is second. A rival campaign told me:
"Yvette's team seem to believe that by simply saying something you can
make it true. In reality, the only candidate with a shot at catching
Jeremy is Andy as he's ahead of Yvette in every region in the country.
The Cooper camp's spin does party members a disservice at a time when
they are trying to make the right choice to save the future of their
party." Sources from all sides have told me that their data, including
from the last week (following Cooper's attack on Corbyn), shows
Burnham in second.

But Cooper's team are standing by their data. They argue that it is in
Corbyn and Burnham's interests to argue that the latter is second
(with both fishing for second-preference votes) and that Liz Kendall's
phone-banks are almost "non-existent" rendering their data "pretty
worthless". The most recent YouGov poll, which psephologists regard as
more reliable than canvass records, showed Burnham three points ahead
of Cooper (21-18) in the first round but tied with her in the second
(23-23). Some key Kendall allies, such as John Woodcock and Gloria de
Piero, have endorsed Burnham on arithmetical grounds. But others, such
as Tristram Hunt and Ivan Lewis, have backed Cooper. Some, believing
that Corbyn's lead is unassailable, have endorsed her in spite of
believing that Burnham is ahead. One MP told me that he wanted to
punish the latter for "pandering" to Corbyn and for "opportunism".
The battle for "second" isn't just significant as an attempt to gain
some late momentum. It also reflects the belief that whoever finishes
as runner-up to Corbyn (who almost all expect to win) will be
best-placed to take over should he fall before the election.

Meanwhile, Cooper's campaign have accused Burnham's camp of "everyday
sexism" after a source told me that Cooper's claims were "straight out
of the Ed Balls playbook".

Update: Cooper backer Seema Malhotra has responded to the "Ed Balls
playbook" line. She said: "This is a leadership contest and of course
there'll be debate on policy and politics. But Andy needs to stop his
team resorting to sexist jibes. It doesn't help his campaign or the
Labour Party."

The Tories shouldn't blame young people for being unemployed when all
they've done is made things worse
Tags:Labour leadership 2015LabourYvette CooperAndy Burnham

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