By a Nose

25 June 2007



Harman Wins Deputy Labour Leader Job

Being the deputy leader of a British political party is about as useful as being Vice President of the United States (excluding Dick Cheney, the eminence noir, who is all together different). The main job is to turn up at funerals the top dog can’t bother with, and to inquire about said dog’s health every morning. So, quite why Harriet Harman wanted to be deputy leader of the Labour Party is unclear, but it does confirm her as a rising star in post-Blair Westminster.

Her election came as a mild surprise to those who followed the seven-week campaign. Her efforts never really caught fire, but somehow, the voting system of reallocating second preferences from eliminated candidates put her on 50.4% against Alan Johnson’s 49.6%. Under recent custom, one could expect her to be named Deputy Prime Minister, but it seems Prime Minister Gordon Brown will get along without that office (after all, Wellington, Gladstone, Disraeli, Lloyd-George, Churchill and Atlee did). Instead, she will be the new Chairwoman of the Labour Party.

As Chairwoman, Ms. Harman will have to face declining membership in the party. There are 180,000 paid up members. Deputy PM John Prescott set as his target 1,000,000 members. No doubt the Iraq-Nam war had a lot to do with the decline, and the million member mark is undoubtedly unrealistic. All the same, the trend is against her, and the new position may be a poisoned chalice.

Mr. Brown also faces a difficulty with regard to the four men and other woman she defeated for the job. Hazel Blears, who was Party Chairwoman, may move to the backbenches, or Mr. Brown will have to find a position for her that doesn’t look too much like a demotion. Mr. Johnson did well enough that he is likely to stay at the Education Ministry. Peter Hain as outgoing cabinet minister responsible for Northern Ireland should stay given the recent good news from Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams. Hilary Benn, who was expected by some to be in a run-off against Mr. Johnson, was Secretary of State for International Development, and he may well be moved sideways or kept where he is. As for Jon Cruddas, he’s a backbencher who deserves some sort of promotion.

Whether Ms. Harman can work well with the new PM is largely a decided issue. They do get along and are friendly enough. She did criticize the government over Iraq-Nam, but then, most Labourites agree with her. Her biggest advantage is her relative distance from Mr. Blair, who is rapidly going to fade from view. Her biggest disadvantage was the narrowness of her victory; she has no mandate. Then again, being deputy leader doesn’t matter, and being chairwoman is a full time job. That should keep her out of Mr. Brown’s hair.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.


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