Michael Meacher MP

One’s first reaction to Ed Miliband’s abolition of shadow cabinet elections is that this is a step away from party democracy.   But on closer reflection this is a shrewd, and radical, break with tradition which makes a lot of sense in current circumstances.   Ed is faced with a shadow cabinet in which only 4 of its 19 members voted for him in the leadership election 9 months ago and which has shown itself signally unwilling to accept the message of that leadership campaign that the party wanted a change of direction.   A leader voted in on that mandate can be expected to take the necessary steps to deliver what he promised.    But there’s more to this than meets the eye. (more…)