Every word, smirk, and shake of the head would have been analysed for signs of disloyalty. Every speech and article deconstructed in search of signs of a leadership bid. Kremlinology would have given way to Milibandology, and few journalists would have been able to resist it.

So David’s gone, and we should wish him well. Something I’ve learned since I joined the Labour party two decades ago is that it doesn’t pay to place too much faith in individual politicians. They all have feet of clay; they come, and go; some last, some don’t. There are old-stagers like Straw, Beckett and Harman, who seem to have been with us forever. There are bright stars that shone, then burnt out, like Milburn or Byers. There are those you might have trouble recalling at all, such as Joyce Quin, Bryan Gould or Jack Cunningham.

My message to those colleagues, especially the young people involved in his campaign, is that David Miliband’s departure should not be greeted with a sense of loss or resentment. It’s just politics. It’s a winner-takes-all game. It can be remorselessly cruel and unfair. What matters now are the ideals, values and ideas that should propel our party into the next election. Progressives should get right behind Ed, and offer an analysis and contribution which helps to frame Labour’s argument.

Progress itself has a great future as the place where this work can be done. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the party’s ginger groups such as the Labour Coordinating Committee (LCC) were both loyal to the Kinnock leadership and at the same time urging for further and faster modernisation. It helped to create space for the leader to move into. With Blair, we had a leader who was further ahead than the pressure groups. The LCC folded in 1996.

It’s early days, but broadly we need to see evidence of an economic, a social, and an electoral strategy. On the economy, much will depend on the appointment of a new shadow chancellor. It should be someone with whom the leader can work, but doesn’t create an alternative powerbase. It should be a person who can communicate with the public and reassure business. Because we are four years away from the election, it can be someone with time to grow into the job. Yvette Cooper seems ideally placed. Labour’s economic strategy must accept the failures of Brown years – the failure to regulate the banks, the dangers of growth built on credit, the need for a rigorous industrial policy – as well the successes: higher employment, steady growth, and fair taxes. At the centre of the plan must be work – rewarding, fulfilling jobs with a chance of advancement must be at the heart of our deal with the public. People are working harder, but not getting any further forward. It builds resentment towards immigrants, and a collapse in confidence in the benefits system. Creating the economic conditions to create jobs is now Labour’s central task.

Next – a social policy which reflects our values of community and reciprocity. Ditching the Respect Agenda was a monumental mistake. Now we need to listen to the people who are courageously standing up to crime and disorder on their estates and in their neighbourhoods, and ask them what powers they need, and what powers the police and local councils need, to create safe, stable places to live. By being on the side of the local campaigners against drugs, gangs, litter and dangerous dogs, Labour can really show that ‘we get it’. But it’s about more than antisocial behaviour. We need to think hard about pro-social behaviour, and how we promote neighbourliness, decency and mutual support without the dead hand of the state stifling it. It’s hard against a backdrop of cuts to voluntary organisations. We have to show that Labour has a view of society beyond our analysis of the state. As I try to show in Labour’s Revival, we have our own socialist tradition of decentralisation and cooperation to draw on, and we mustn’t be afraid of it.

Third, the electoral strategy. Appealing to Liberal Democrats to join Labour is perfectly sound. There are plenty of disgruntled voters to voted Lib Dem to stop the Tories, and ended up with them. But there aren’t enough of them to create an electoral coalition which can take us back to power. Ed in his speech mentioned the five million lost voters since 1997. They went to other parties and to none. In 2010, tens of thousands went straight to the Tories, especially in the south of England. So Labour’s appeal must be broad, and based on the millions who feel alienated from politics, or let down by Cameron. A smash-and-grab on Cowley Street won’t deliver a Labour majority.

Ed Miliband’s speech to conference was mostly about drawing a line under the past. By stating his opposition to the invasion of Iraq, he hopes to never have to mention it again. His brother’s selfless act gives him space to develop his own leadership. Ed has a rarely-seen political opportunity: the fresh start. After a period dominated by personalities, he has the chance to develop policies. Progress – founded in the 1990s when the party was in opposition to shape the programme for government – has the chance to perform the same role. Labour party supporters of every hue, no matter who they backed in the leadership election, or whether the result delivered elation or disappointment should rally round the new leader, not as cheerleaders, but as partners in a shared task.

If we get it right, the road from Manchester leads straight back to Downing Street.

Photo: Unisonpix

Paul Richards‘s new book Labour’s Revival is out now.