The East backed David
We were aware that the east favoured David Miliband over his younger brother Ed, but the figures do show just how overwhelming that vote was.
The resuts for the contest are published in some detail.
Labour MP for Luton South Gavin Shuker had Ed Miliband as his first preference and Ed Balls as his second, deciding not to use his other preferences.
Richard Howitt, Labour's MEP for the east, put David Miliband first and his brother Ed second and also opted out of other preferences.
Kelvin Hopkins, Luton North's Labour MP, did use the full range of preferences and put Diane Abbott first, Ed Miliband second, Ed Balls third, Andy Burnham fourth and David Miliband fifth.
Of our constituency Labour parties, the difference between those that put David Miliband before the winner, Ed Miliband, was marked.
Only three constituencies - Basildon and Billericay, South Cambridgeshire, and Waveney put Ed above David and in Southend West and West Suffolk it was a dead heat.
All the others wanted David to win. Of course he didn't and now Labour in this region will need move on and unite behind their new leader. His first speech will be a test of how easy it will be to win them over.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
Comment number 1.
At 28th Sep 2010, john wrote:All they have to do is hold together and keep their nerve . No in-fighting and let the Tories - ably led locally by Suffolk - commit political suicide . Then wait with open arms those voters who want to believe again in the Labour ( not New Blue Thatcher Labour ,remember Thatcher said Blair was not a Socialist) Party and come back into the fold .
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