He is a weird looking bloke, stabbed his brother in the back (all is fair in politics) looks odd eating a sandwich and sounds a bit funny.

Has a UK politician suffered so much abuse at the hands of the right wing press?

What are they scared of? He seems competent making speeches well no worse than his opposite number.

So why do so many people think he is an imbecile who if he got into No 10 then the country is doomed.

I don’t.

stabbed his brother in the back

You have answered your own question there.

not sure he stabbed his brother in the back, he ran for the same position his brother did and he won

doesnt that just make him good at running for things?

I used to enter judo tournaments against my brother and I always beat him (well apart from once, but that was a fluke)

most people hate him coz the daily mail and rupert murdoch told them hes odd

not sure he stabbed his brother in the back, he ran for the same position his brother did and he won

doesnt that just make him good at running for things?

This.

he ran for the same position his brother did and he won the unions chose him as he would be easier to manipulate than his brother

The thought of him representing the UK on the world stage makes me cringe. YMMV

I think my wife put it best when she said ‘he’s just too ugly to be taken seriously with other world leaders’

You either have to be ‘non ugly’ or at the least look powerful.

He’s neither

Because they are superficial, and consider (what they have been told about) image, rather than substance?

I think my wife put it best when she said ‘he’s just too ugly to be taken seriously with other world leaders’

I despair.

I couldn’t trust him and the other Ed to run a country.

Awkward, no charisma, backstabbing, weird, spineless, annoying, clueless, out of touch, always whinging & whining, had very little positive to say about anything over the last 5 years, can’t seem to acnowledge or learn from Labour’s past mistakes, no apparent clear sense of direction, kneejerk policies, public school boy, wet behind the ears, not a natural leader, talks about problems – not solutions, more bothered about becoming PM than the good of the UK.

Could say some of these things a lot of politicians from all main parties but unfortunately Edd’s the whole sorry package in my eyes. John Smith, now there was a great Labour leader and someone I’d have been happy to vote for.

As I posted on the election thread, he is an idiot, see –

A good article on why you shouldn’t vote for Ed as he is an economic idiot:

Ed and incentives

Because it’s the easiest way to put a large section of the public off voting for him. You don’t need to explain policy or competence you just need to say look at him, he’s a twonk. You wouldn’t trust a twonk to run the country would you?

Sadly, that level of simplicity works for a lot of people.

I just can’t take him seriously, not just him though his mate Balls as well. Neither of them have anything about them. Yeah he looks funny and can’t talk, but i’m talking about his aura, he just doesn’t give me any confidence he could stand up there with the rest of the worlds leaders and be taken seriously by any of them. He just a bit wet IMO.

His brother on the other hand would probably win this election. IMO again.

He just reminds me of a weasel in both looks and mannerism. I feel I could not trust him.
Previously been limp in opposition. He just doesn’t have a lot going to make him stand out as a leader.

but i’m talking about his aura

Too bad David Icke isn’t up for election, he’d be your perfect candidate.

Why bother with all this democracy BS – let’s just get Simon Cowell to select the most marketable candidate.

Judgemental as people are.. Ugly weird guy who they don’t like the sound of.

In terms of appearance, he rather seems to be the closest thing to a normal person in UK politics.

He started off pretty weakly but seems to be rather reasonable now – when you take into account the game that they’re all forced to play.

Competency. Quite simple really.

Balls is much brighter and often talks sense (until he gets into political scraps)

Still we need a genuine LW opposition to the SNP to balance the coalition going forward 😉

1. because outside of politics he’s never had as much as a paper round by way of responsibility.
2. he’s seeded “class” based division whilst himself being privately educated and has inherited £millions and on the other side has created a sense of “entitlement” in those who could pay their own way but choose not to (so not people who genuinely can’t e.g. for health reasons)
3. He talks about the “rich” and the rich needing to pay more but himself lives in a £3m house that was inherited with reportedly little / no tax paid as a result of a series of beneficial trusts.
4. Because he repeatedly says things he knows to be untrue – he’d rather score cheap political points and get himself into power than work constructively to progress the lot of everyone in Britain
5. Because he apparently has a sense of a divine right that he will be Prime Minister
6. Because even though everyone else in the country can see that Ed Balls is useless, he still knows best.

Has a UK politician suffered so much abuse at the hands of the right wing press?

For Neil Kinnock & Michael Foot the abuse went well beyond differences on economic policy. I suspect that if John Smith had been in office long enough they would have had a pretty good go at him to.

John Major had a pretty hard time all round for either being too right wing or not right wing enough

1. because outside of politics he’s never had as much as a paper round by way of responsibility.
2. he’s seeded “class” based division whilst himself being privately educated and has inherited £millions and on the other side has created a sense of “entitlement” in those who could pay their own way but choose not to (so not people who genuinely can’t e.g. for health reasons)
3. He talks about the “rich” and the rich needing to pay more but himself lives in a £3m house that was inherited with reportedly little / no tax paid as a result of a series of beneficial trusts.
4. Because he repeatedly says things he knows to be untrue – he’d rather score cheap political points and get himself into power than work constructively to progress the lot of everyone in Britain
5. Because he apparently has a sense of a divine right that he will be Prime Minister

How does this distinguish him from any of three main party leaders?

3. He talks about the “rich” and the rich needing to pay more but himself lives in a £3m house that was inherited with reportedly little / no tax paid as a result of a series of beneficial trusts.

If he’s advocating the closing of loopholes from which he or his family might benefit, isn’t that a brave thing to do?

He has very little force of personality, he really looks like anyone and anything could just roll over him. This was summed at perfectly by the debate clips of Sturgeon suggesting she would make him PM. He was elected leader of the Labour party as the Unions refused to back his brother as they felt him too right leaning (or New Labour if you like). He definitely stabbed him in the back. Ironically David might have been elected PM this time round with a majority and Ed could have been chancellor or foreign secretary, as it stands it’s quite possible Ed will be finished politically.

I see the world “limp” used above by @graig, that’s perfect.

So we don’t trust Ed & Ed to run the country but we do call me Dave and Gideon? 😐

Good lord.

If he’s advocating the closing of loopholes from which he or his family might benefit, isn’t that a brave thing to do?

Not at all after you’ve personally benefitted. He changed the will of his dead father, very sleazy.

Backed by the unions? Oh dear God no! the last thing you need in politics is a candidate backed by the representatives of the working population. Particulalry in the LABOUR party – just madness!

…after stuffing the UK with a ridiculous legal obligation to cut CO2 by 80% (!WTFO?) in all his time at DECC he didnt manage to get a single new nuclear power station plan in motion.

He has a fundamental lack of understanding of how the business world thinks. Whether you think business is a force for good or not, to achieve your objectives whether positive or indeed negative for business, you need to work with you have got and you will only be able to do this effectively if you understand where the “other side” is coming from.

If you’re talking about inherited money then don’t forget that Call Me Dave’s father left him money in his will that’s in a tax haven. Looking forward to hearing more on this!

I agree the demonising of Kinnock and Foot was worse.

So it seems that the election is going to be decided on looks and what the Mail says. If that is the case we are all screwed.

If we are going on looks then how the hell has Pickles ever been voted for or Gove.

Dave was just dreamier.

sleazy?, I thought deeds of variation were standard practice and I believe it was done by his mothers accountant

Backed by the unions? Oh dear God no! the last thing you need in politics is a candidate backed by the representatives of the working population. Particulalry in the LABOUR party – just madness!

The unions represent their members which are a portion of the working population, these days quite a small portion.

Blair and New Labour delivered 13 years of government by distancing themselves form the unions.

Labour screwed the pooch making him boss.
“Red Ed”, son of a marxist. Not for me thanks. Not nearly statesman-like enough either, they’d run rings around him (or that’s the impression I get).

It should hardly be a surprise that the labour party leader has the backing of them though should it?

He changed the will of his dead father, very sleazy

Well, not really.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/12/did-ed-miliband-avoid-inheritance-tax-parents-home-deed-of-variation

well I think his support of the levenson proposals has done him no favours with teh press either

I bet he has a limp handshake 🙂

chomp – Member

I think my wife put it best when she said ‘he’s just too ugly to be taken seriously with other world leaders’

Because Angela Merkel is so hot.

It’s the way he’s constantly following other people’s agendas that bothers me. He can be weird, funny looking, sandwich-incompetent, all that, shouldn’t make any difference. But he’s spent the last 5 years dancing to David Cameron’s tune and that does. Obviously that’s not all down to him, a party leader’s just the figurehead for a load of policy wonks and tacticians but ultimately it’s his responsibility.

I’ve said this before- I think he gives the best fight he can, and sometimes he does damn well, but it’s always to the rules he’s given. That’s not the job. And the really weird thing is, even when he does that he still gets villified by the press so why not take the risk? He’s basically got nothing to lose there

I would still rather have him than the plastic man and his shitehawk army though.

He’s an incompetent apparatchick who f*d it up last time and wants to do it all over again.