As the Conservative Liberal coalition turns it gaze to running the country, the Labour party, in opposition for the first time in 13 years, will focus on electing a leader to succeed Gordon Brown. When asked what type of Labour leader the public want, their response was quite clear: being straight talking and in touch with the people is more important than political stance. An impressive 59% specified the ability to give straight answers to straight questions in the media as one of the most important characteristics of a new leader whilst 47% believe the acceptance that the last Labour government lost touch with ordinary people is a crucial characteristic.
By comparison, far fewer specified political stance as the most important quality they want to see in a new Labour leader. Only 23% of the public think the leader must be determined to lead from the centre rather than the left with just 9% claiming that it is important that the new leader is further left than Gordon Brown and Tony Blair and this only rises to 13% among Labour supporters.
With the Miliband brothers already having declared themselves in the running for the Labour leadership, the public have also spoken early. Political stance, so important in the 80s and 90s, has fallen by the wayside, the public desires a straight talking leader who realises just how out of touch Labour has become.
