General release

The job of Labour general secretary grew smaller and more unstable in government. Labour got through six general secretaries (and one acting) during our 13 years, while another was offered the job, but managed to resign before taking it. The late, great Morgan Phillips did the job for longer than all of them put together.

But if general secretaries shrink when No 10 is running things, the post is much more powerful in opposition. Policy development, media, organisation, conferences, fundraising and the all-important election campaigns, all report first to the general secretary and only then to the leader’s office.

So Ed Miliband’s decision to make Ray Collins sleep with the fishes a peer has created the most attractive job vacancy in Labour politics.

Surprisingly, the leadership doesn’t appear to have stitched up the nomination. It’s not even quite clear when the decision will be made. Control freakery is definitely dead and a thousand flowers are busy blooming, thought they’re doing so very quietly.

The two shy flowers most discussed in Westminster are GMB national political officer, Iain McNicol and former Gordon Brown political secretary Joe Irvin.

Both are Scottish trade union operators, with little personal ego, but don’t let the similarity fool you.

McNicol is an ex-Labour Students campaigns officer and a grassroots organiser. He could also claim to be the man behind the famous ‘Vote Ed’ GMB envelopes (He modestly declines this somewhat divisive credit). McNicol is known as an energetic and effective campaigner, used both to running the clipboard on a street canvassing session and holding the reins of a national campaign. He would certainly shake the party machine up.

Irvin, on the other hand, knows the party and the union movement inside-out. He spent a decade at the T&G, then survived five years with John Prescott and three years as a top adviser to Brown. That shows that he’s a survivor, a man who can be trusted when things cut up rough, and who is equally comfortable with union leaders, donors, and demanding bosses.

Right now, we don’t know if either will put their name forward when push comes to shove. Irvin, in particular, seems to be mentioned for every senior job in the Labour party, and other names are often floated, usually to be immediately shot down to earth.

Speaking of which. One piece of sad news. Despite much hard-left fantasising, Progress columnist Luke Akehurst won’t be throwing his hat in the ring. Perhaps he’s enjoying being on the NEC a bit too much to want to work for them. Shame!

Meh to AV

Over Christmas, the AV referendum campaign got really exciting.

OK, No it didn’t.

The No campaign put out a list of MPs who were against ranked order of preferences.

But hold on – ‘Recount!’ demanded the yes campaign! A fair few of these ‘No’s’ turned out to be ‘Yesses’ and ‘maybes’. Red faces at ‘No’ HQ.

Meanwhile, in the real world, polling on the referendum seems to depend on what question you ask.
Put it this way, if the wording of the question totally changes the answer, people can’t be all that interested.

So your correspondent’s tip for insurgent campaign of 2011? The snappily titled ‘Meh2AV’, an online campaign for everyone who doesn’t really care for either way we could elect MPs. A winning idea, however you count the votes.

Who wants to be a Labour mayor?

Westminster politics is often accused of being a closed circle.

Too right. If it doesn’t happen in Portcullis House, it’s not worth knowing.

But Eric ‘the Walrus’ Pickles’ proposal to create a mayor in each of the 12 biggest English cities has the potential of creating some Labour stars whose roots are far from Westminster.

There’s going to be a referendum next year and Labour people in, among others, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham will all be deciding if they want a mayor to help them stand up to a cutting Tory government.

Council leaders, even the most well known, don’t tend to get heard outside their patch, but if the mayor of Leeds or Manchester had something to say, they’d get heard loud and clear, even in Westminster.

So Eric Pickles could be giving Nick Forbes in Newcastle, Siôn Simon in Birmingham, or Manchester council leader Richard Leese the perfect chance to become the national face of opposition to Tory cuts. If they want it.

If you can’t imagine how a campaigning council leader might attract the national limelight, just ask David Blunkett… And who knows, perhaps Blunkett could be tempted into putting on the mayoral robes back home in Sheffield, where he could play an essential role in building up the city and knocking down fellow Sheffield MP Nick Clegg.

Maybe someone should give him a call?