Looks like the Labour leadership battle will be interesting!

[LeftishBrit]

Now it will involve the Miliband brothers fighting it out between each other.

[TheBigotBasher]

1. The war criminal

versus the man who said he could easily cut £1 billion from education funding.

At least Cooper isn't standing. It would make the GOP look less patronage based.

What exactly does Labour stand for again?

[craigmatic]

2. David Miliband is probably the best suited to win and lead. The party needs to get

back to the Blairite policies and styles of campaigns that brought it success. Niether one of the two brothers would take the party back to the traditional socialist left that dominated before 1979. Come to think of it, it might be too soon for either of them. I have the feeling that the tories will be in for 5 years or more after the next elections. Anyone labour picks right now will probably lose next time so it should probably be somebody who can set the party up for the long term like Balls or Johnson and then lose so one of the Milibands can eventually become PM.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Johnson has already said he's not standing (nt)

[T_i_B]

4. Labour leadership race discredited, says MP McDonnell

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8690259.stm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Labour MP John McDonnell has accused the party of organising a "discredited" leadership contest.

The left-winger said he wanted to stand but would struggle to get the nominations of 33 MPs - required under rules announced on Tuesday - in time. The Hayes and Harlington MP said this would exclude many "rank and file" Labour members from choosing him and reduce the chances of a "fresh start". Mr McDonnell, who wanted to stand against Gordon Brown for the leadership in 2007 but failed to receive enough nominations from MPs, said it was wrong to reduce the period for nominations to four days, from 24 to 27 May.

He said this was not enough time for the many newly elected Labour MPs to weigh up the merits of different candidates and for potential contenders to canvass for support - although he said he was still determined to try. "I think it undermines the democratic process from the outset," he told the BBC News Channel.

By "curtailing" the nomination process, Mr McDonnell said Labour officials were effectively "fixing" the contest in favour of establishment candidates such as David Miliband.

[fedsron2us]

5. The problem with most of the contenders

is that they were too closely associated with the previous regime. If Labour want to go down that route then they may as well have stuck with Brown who at least is a political heavyweight. The Millibands, like Cameron and Clegg, are all really Blair Mini-Me clones. The Labour party needs not only to distance itself from the past but also to get a leader identifiably different from the Con-Dems. At the moment the candidates look like just more of the same old same old.

Given the rocky road that Brown had to tread while PM it is well nigh miraculous the party was not wiped out at the polls. My own view is that one of the reasons why they survived relatively intact is that the public has fallen out of love with smart young politicians on the make no matter how plausible and photogenic. In that respect Brown's lack of PR polish did not count against him as much as the media had thought it would. The voters want authenticity. Sadly I don't think they are going to get it.

[TheBigotBasher]

6. Not to mention decidedly odd tactics in 20 marginal

Neo con Labour seats around the Country. One of the very British things about our elections is that we are to believe that the fiascos from postal votes to people being locked out of voting did not affect the election in any way.

[Hopeless Romantic]

7. MILIBAND PISSED THE BED WHEN HE WAS 15, SAYS OTHER MILIBAND

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/miliband-pissed-the-bed-when-he-was-15,-says-other-miliband-201005182740/

[dipsydoodle]

11. Off topic

Have you ever checked out the Framley Examiner ? http://www.framleyexaminer.com/

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Andy Burnham 'to join leadership race' - which makes 5

Former health secretary Andy Burnham is to announce he will enter the contest to become Labour leader on Thursday, the BBC understands.

Mr Burnham will be the fifth Labour MP to enter the race. The winner will not be announced until 25 September.

His former cabinet colleague Ed Balls has confirmed he is standing - as are brothers David and Ed Miliband.

Left-wing MP John McDonnell wants to stand but says the short timetable for nominations has "fixed" the process.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8692850.stm

Anyone know if an MP is allowed to nominate more than one candidate?

Leadership contenders have to be nominated by 12.5% of the Parliamentary Labour Party, which following the general election means 33 MPs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8444558.stm

If not, then 5 will probably be the limit. I'm sure some will get more nominations than the minimum, and some would want to avoid nominating others in hope of showing early loyalty to the one they expect to win (which looks like Miliband ma. at the moment).

[T_i_B]

9. I've heard rumours of Diane Abbott running

And here's a pro-Abbott article from the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/19/diane-abbott-labour-leadership

[dipsydoodle]

10. Now confirmed - she's running.

Backbench MP Diane Abbott has joined the race for the Labour leadership.

The Londoner told the BBC her bid was "serious", saying there was little between the other candidates and she would be offering Labour a choice.

The 57-year-old Cambridge graduate, who became the UK's first black woman MP in 1987, said she was getting support from both MPs on the left and women MPs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8693687.stm