It’s worth noting that, should David Miliband fail to become Labour leader, he would be the first front-runner not to win the crown since Denis Healey lost to Michael Foot in 1980. The party opted for the odds-on favourite at each of the past three Labour leadership elections, while in 2007, of course, Gordon Brown was so widely supported that it didn’t bother to have one.
In 1983, Neil Kinnock, who endorsed Ed Miliband at the weekend, easily saw off his rivals, winning 71.3 per cent of the vote, with Roy Hattersley trailing on 19.3 per cent, Eric Heffer on 6.3 per cent and Peter Shore on 3.2 per cent.
In 1992, John Smith demolished Bryan Gould, securing 91 per cent of the vote to Gould’s 9 per cent. And in 1994, after striking a deal with Gordon Brown, Tony Blair had little trouble defeating Margaret Beckett and John Prescott. The future prime minister won 57 per cent of the vote to Prescott’s 24.1 per cent and Beckett’s 18.9 per cent.
By contrast, the Tories have often opted for insurgent candidates, disastrously so in the case of William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith, and more successfully in the case of David Cameron.
I think we can say with some certainty that the next Labour leader will be named Miliband, but otherwise there’s a welcome element of uncertainty to this contest, the most competitive for 30 years.
Here are the latest odds from Betfair:
David Miliband 4/5
Ed Miliband 3/1
Andy Burnham 10/1
Ed Balls 12/1
Diane Abbott 43/1
John McDonnell 549/1
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