7 September 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:14am

David Miliband tops poll of Labour councillors

Ed Miliband comes second with 43 per cent to his brother’s 57; Ed Balls is eliminated first.

The BBC’s Daily Politics show will shortly unveil the results of a new poll of Labour councillors in which David Miliband comes out first with 57 per cent of the vote, compared to his brother’s 43.

Diane Abbott came third on first preferences, but the more surprising fact, perhaps, is that Ed Balls was eliminated first, with just 8 per cent, with Andy Burnham bowing out in the next round.

However, it is definitely worth noting that this poll was conducted by ComRes between 23 July and 10 August, so it will not reflect any of the more recent events in the leadership contest, in particular, Balls’s recent strong performance opposing the coalition on the deficit, and the Blairites’ intervention in the struggle between the Milibands.

And, need one say, a poll of 265 councillors is hardly representative of Labour’s electoral college as a whole. But perhaps what this poll does reiterate is how vital second preferences are going to be in determining who becomes Labour’s next leader.