The Labour Party leadership Election.

After their devastating defeat at May's General Election and their leader, Gordon Brown's eventual resignation the British Labour Party are in the process of choosing a new leader. The block voting from the party's trade union backers is going on now and the balloting of rank and file party members ends in September.

Probably now more then ever the choice of leader also presents the Labour Party with a choice of the direction they will take over the next fives years as the party of opposition. They can either re-consolidate around their Old Labour roots and once again become a party of the workers which fights on behalf of the British public against the stinging cuts and class war that the Conservative Party is about to unleash against the people of Britain. Alternatively they can once again turn their backs on British voters and elect an intellectual leader who will focus on developing the New Labour project by building allegiances with business leaders and the political classes across Europe and the World.

In the Old Labour camp there is Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott. As the first black woman ever to be elected to the British Parliament Diane Abbott is a traditional left-wing firebrand and a veteran of the battles fought between Margret Thatcher's Conservative Government and Ken Livingstone's Labour Greater London Council in the 1980's. Although very much to the political right of Diane Abbott Andy Burnham is still more left-wing the most of his party contemporaries. He served as health minister in Gordon Brown's government and proved himself to be relatively competent in the role. He was though as largely anonymous in the role as he has been during the leadership campaign and every time he appears on television.

In the New Labour camp you have the brothers Miliband. They both grew up the affluent Hampstead area of London and are part of what has been dubbed the "Marxist Aristocracy." The older brother Ed, is said to be the most left-wing of the brothers but is still more right-wing then some members of the Conservative Party yet he still enjoys the support of most of the trade union vote. He also has the unfortunate accolade of serving as a special advisor during Gordon Brown's disastrous spell as Prime Minister. The younger brother, David, looks about twelve and is by far the most right-wing of all the candidates. Having worked as a special advisor to Tony Blair during his premiership Ed Miliband is seen as Blair's natural heir. He was then appointed to the role of Foreign Secretary by his leadership rival, Gordon Brown because it is very difficult to move from Foreign Secretary to Prime Minister. During his time as Foreign Secretary David Miliband apparently caught the eye of US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton and showed a worrying lack of concern for both human rights and civil liberties. He also showed worrying support for an interventionist foreign policy that's more commonly known as the invasion of Iraq.

Perfectly straddling these two camps there is a fifth candidate, Ed Balls. You may remember him as the Minister for Children when the Baby P scandal broke. You may also remember him as the man who had to face down the forces of hell for daring to try and bring those responsible for the Baby P scandal to justice. Oxford educated he is clearly a very intelligent man who is fast earning himself as a reputation for being a political bruiser with a lot of staying power.

There many great reasons for why Ed Balls should become the next leader of the Labour Party and one day I may get round to listing them all. In the meantime though I just want to know why the women and a few of the men in the ranks of the Labour Party haven't stood up to loudly and proudly announce the simple slogan;

"I Like Balls!"