As a party we are desperate for a leadership which begins to challenge the ConDem government on its decimation of public services as well as develop firm policies for the next Labour government. I believe, and have done for many years, that David Miliband is such a leader who will build upon the significant positive changes of the last 13 years as well as address our frailties which middle England rejected us for in May.
One of the key qualities of David Miliband is to actually realise why we lost in May. We may have had a low poll rating at a general election, but we still kept over 250 seats and had one of our best nights for local elections in over a decade – gaining over 300 seats and taking back control of over 30 local authorities. Therefore, the voting public which voted us in three previous general elections and left us in May, did not reject Labour’s modern values of economic prosperity and social justice, but rejected us for losing our ears, becoming ministerial managers and initiative drivers seeking good headlines, rather than coherent policymakers for the good of the country.
David’s record not just in working to deliver Labour’s programme from 1997 but as a minister is what puts him at the forefront of this leadership campaign – he drove the reforms in education, took through parliament the world’s first climate change act and was a influential international ambassador, worked well with our allies.
As a leader of a multicultural country and a party which has a diverse membership as ours, it is a tough task to lead, tackle the issues and government of the day as well as keep listening to the party membership and the public at large. However, if you look at the way David began his campaign from the outset you can see the conviction of a leader who’s willing and wanting to listen and can succeed in those tasks.
This government has driven us straight back to the old Tory philosophy – you’re on your own – and have taken the Lib Dems with them. The Big Society is a ‘cut and shut’ policy which like second hand cars is dangerous and can put livelihoods at risk. However, the country needs an effective opposition and as he said in his recent speech at the King Solomon Academy, by ‘effective’ it is not just opposing the government, but bringing them to account, supporting them when policies are right and exposing them when they are wrong.
Like David, I believe the majority of people want the state to deliver education, health and public services as long as they are accountable to them, that mechanisms are in place so where when things go wrong or they have concerns, that those concerns are listened to and acted upon. In education it should be pupils and parents first, and in health it’s patients who should come first.
I believe David Miliband will not only be an effective leader of the opposition but an effective Leader of the Labour party and a great Labour prime minister. Therefore I urge those eligible to vote to vote for David Miliband.