Compass Conference Part II

The Conference ended with keynote addresses by Pam Giddy, Jon Cruddas and Chuka Umunna. The latter's was the pick of the three and it would not surprise me if he was on the Labour frontbench within the next few years. Cruddas' speech was decent, but the couple of times I have heard him speak the content has certainly been better than the rather workmanlike delivery. It seems a little churlish to say this but the standing ovation from some quarters seemed a bit over the top, though generally I don't like standing ovations - they seem rather infantile to me.

However, before these final addresses we had the five leadership candidates taking questions. I think there were about five questions which included one from Billy Bragg and one from Fiona Millar. I thought it was a bit of a shame that two of the questions were asked by such well known figures.

I certainly did not think any candidate was head and shoulders above the rest. I would have liked one to come out in support of PR, but not surprisingly that was not to be. So what did I think of each of them? I thought all had something to commend them. I will comment on them in the order they were sat.

David Miliband came over as someone who could certainly be leader. He was, for want of a better term, statesmanlike, intelligent and his answers were considered. He certainly was not afraid of being rather 'highbrow' and unapologetic about Labour's record in government. I can certainly see why many will back him. If I was still hankering after Blair I would probably support him. But if the party is to decisively move away from the Blair / Brown years I don't think he is the man to do so.

Ed Miliband's responses were rather 'safe' I thought and he looked more ill at ease than I expected. My guess is he would neither have gained nor lost much support with his answers.

Ed Balls came over as a fairly smart political operator and he was scouring the audience like a headteacher trying to identify a miscreant in a school assembly. He seems to be modelling himself as almost a latter day Callaghan trying to appeal to the centre of the party. Even though I don't rate his record in his last ministerial post I felt he came over very well when he dealt with the question on education.

Andy Burnham spent much of the session playing up his 'ordinary' roots. This is not a stupid policy, but it can become a little repetitive. I felt he warmed up throughout the session and fared quite well. His unapologetic defense of comprehensive education was perhaps the highpoint of the whole hustings and one did feel that he was totally sincere about that. One also felt he understood the issues better than Ed Miliband for example.

Diane Abbott was clearly a favourite for much of the audience. I felt she was competent, but probably did not make the most of the advantages she had. As with Ed Miliband I felt she probably neither gained nor lost support.

All in all a bit of a score draw. Competence rather than excitement seemed to abound. I think an interesting issue will be exactly how Burnham positions himself - how 'Right Wing' would he be? I think the latter preferences of the electorate could well prove to be crucial. I think it is all still to play for.

One interesting element of the Conference was to see how many of the speakers and Leadership candidates throughout the day appeared to like the old Grecian 2000. There were so many people on platforms who were a fair bit older than me but with barely a grey hair in sight. I suppose one has to praise Balls for going rather easier on the hair dye than so many at the London Institute of Education.