David Miliband for Labour Leader On May 6th the electorate sent us a clear yet painful message. That we had lost our way, that we were no longer the party of change, the party of the future...at least for now. We lost our Labour voice; we no longer knew how to talk to the country, more importantly we no longer remembered how to hold a conversation with the country. And in losing our voice we lost our confidence. The confidence to hold our head high and celebrate our successes (and there have been many) and the humility to admit our mistakes, listen to what people were saying and respond quickly to put things right. It was clear that the electorate wanted change, but that we were perceived as gatekeepers of the old politics at a time when people demanded a new direction, and new way of doing things from their politicians. I've discussed the leadership election with many comrades in the Labour Party over the last few weeks and I've been worried by the perception of some, that this leadership election will not be electing the next Prime Minister, that it's too soon to elect a credible progressive candidate to rival Cameron and Clegg's ConDem coalition. Well I say that this mentality is wrong, more than that, it is unacceptable. We have a duty to select a candidate who is not only capable of leading the renewal of our Party, but a leader who is capable of leading the renewal of our nations politics as Prime Minister. Now is not the time to lose our political mojos! We can not afford to lose sight of why we exist, or let down the people who rely on us to fight for fairness and opportunity for all. We can not allow the ConDems to remain in power a single day longer than necessary. I want a candidate who shares my pride in our record in government. Who is not afraid to admit and learn from the mistakes of the past, in order to build a Party fit for the future. A candidate who will not shirk the difficult decisions whilst defending the Labour values we all hold so dear. We need to be inclusive, innovative and inspiring. We need to rewrite the textbook on how we campaign, communicate and organise ourselves. From the outset of this leadership contest there has never been any doubt in my mind which candidate would be capable of taking us forward, of re-establishing our conversation with the electorate, of reigniting our passion to govern and with the ability to lead change in our Party and politics in general. That candidate is David Miliband. For more information on David's campaign visit www.davidmiliband.net
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