Brown for Labour

Everyone else have been discussing who should be the next leader of the Labour Party, so here goes. Jack Straw would be the obvious next leader. Of course, this is unlikely to happen as Labour are in denial (or unable to read) what's happening to cultural politics in England.

This is partly because they believe their own propaganda that identity and constitutional issues aren't important and people just want to talk about schools'n'hospitals and partly because they don't want to rock the boat.

But lets lie back and smile. Imagine Labour win the next UK election by a small margin propped up by the phalanx of Welsh and Scots MPs. Hmm. Tories win more votes (even seats) in England. Gordon Brown is PM. How long do you think that'll last? I can't stop grinning at the chocolaty succulence of it - that's why I want Brown for Labour PM.

Of course, Brown could quite conceivably lose the election to Cameron. In which case Cameron would have saved the Union for the time being in much the same way as Major, by losing in 1997, saved the Union for a while (imagine had the Tories won again?!). If Brown was to lose then there would be an important lesson learnt in Wales and Scotland.

It will be that a Labour MP representing a Welsh or Scottish constituency would never be able to become PM of the UK again. That's got far-reaching implications for the polity and personal ambition in those two countries. If you're a driven politician, what's best - being a big fish (PM) of a small country or a small fish (Minister for Pensions) in a big pond?

Of course, Labour could chose the risky but possibly far-sighted option which is the Straw option. He's the only Labour senior politician who seems to understand what's going on with the white English working class.

He's ready to take risks on issues which chime with voters (the burka affair), he doesn't believe the left-wing narrative about multiculturalism, he supports(ish) an English parliament, he's decent and isn't a frothing racist... and that's before you come to a 'good war' on Iraq ( i.e. no war).

Straw can appeal to 'traditional Labour voters' (code for white working class who may be even be tempted to vote BNP to make a point but more likely not to vote at all) without scaring the Home Counties. The Labour CRE brigade may be tempted to go for him now that they've realised the game is up.

Of course if Straw is chosen there's far reaching implications for the polity and personal ambition of driven politicians in Wales and Scotland!