James Macintyre

Among the most interesting things that happen on the news desks of papers are the decisions -- often taken quite high up -- over which photograph should go with a story. Searches will be made to find downcast pictures of politicians having a bad day -- Gordon Brown was a regular recent victim of this -- and often a split-second averting of the eyes to some notes can be made ... read more

He may have been largely reading from notes. He may not have delivered the most dramatic or charismatic of speeches, to put it mildly. But Alan Johnson has by all accounts done his homework in the past week, and today showed that he is a competent shadow chancellor as well as an attractive politician, one more than capable of walking the tightrope between the positions over the deficit of Alistair ... read more

Back in May, many Westminster observers were surprised to see the liberal commentator Will Hutton appointed by the Tory-led coalition to head up a review into public-sector pay. Along with the Labour MP Frank Field, who was made "poverty tsar", Hutton was seen as part of a new "big tent" around the Government. From the Guardian:

The appointment places Hutton at the heart of one of the most challenging policy ... read more

If, as seems likely, David Miliband steps down from front-bench politics this afternoon, it will be a tragedy for the Labour party, if an entirely understandable thing to do. He has conceded that he arrived in Manchester "planning a slightly different week" to the one he had to endure, and yet his speech to the conference paying tribute to Ed shows what a giant ... read more

He got his biggest cheer when he addressed his critics -- internal and external -- head on: "Red Ed -- come off it." And today Ed Miliband did defy those critics, with one of the best speeches to a Labour conference in recent history.

Yes, he paid extensive tribute to New Labour's record, to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. But boy, did he turn the page, ushering in the age of ... read more

Despite predicting in the New Statesman in December 2008 that Ed Miliband would succeed Gordon Brown, I am still stunned by what we have just seen in the conference hall in Manchester today.

There is no point in pretending Ed's defeat of David isn't one of the most dramatic stories in modern British political history. This is a tale of ruthless and focused determination, based on what Ed regarded as an ... read more

I am writing this from a dark corner behind the stage at the Labour party conference where Gordon Brown, unnoticed to passing delegates, can be spotted through a tiny window animatedly practising the speech he is about to deliver to the party faithful and media gathered here for the leadership announcement, to follow shortly.

Labour loves its past leaders, and Brown will no doubt go down well. Certainly delegates he passed ... read more

For years, since I was exposed to BBC Radio 1 by cooler fellow students, I have thought that Chris Moyles is exactly the sort of supposed "talent" that the misguided, extravagant and bloated BBC is so wrong to bankroll. His entirely forgettable, amoral ramblings are not just pointless but mean that there is so much less music on the station when he is in behind the microphone. He is the ... read more

There are reports today that should Ed Miliband win the Labour leadership on Saturday he would make his elder brother David shadow chancellor. There is obvious logic to this -- David would need a very senior post indeed -- but somehow it doesn't feel quite right. Some would argue it would look dynastic, though that should be dismissed on the grounds that -- regardless of their blood relationship -- ... read more

Gordon Brown could not be forced out of office during the "coup" attempt in January because of the "grave economic situation" and his determination to stay in power, Harriet Harman has said.

In an interview to be published in tomorrow's New Statesman, Harman, the acting Labour leader, is asked why she did not tell Brown to go during a one to one meeting with him during the "coup that never ... read more

Harriet Harman, Labour's acting leader, has said Tony Blair "saw shadows" where they did not exist over allegations that she was involved with a plot, along with her husband Jack Dromey and Gordon Brown, to damage Blair in the "cash for peerages" affair. The Labour deputy leader has added that the suspicions were "a reflection of quite how bad the relationship had become between" Blair and Brown.

In 2006 Dromey, treasurer ... read more

After a long campaign that has brought the extraordinary spectacle of the brothers David and Ed Miliband cast as ruthless rivals, today may be the last day in which they emphasise their (real) political differences.

The deadline for voting is at 17.00 hours, and both camps are claiming their man is set to win. With tensions running high; Ed Miliband has just sent a campaign email appealing for extra ... read more