Labour party

Ed Balls has produced a contract with the Labour party. Three things strike me about it. First, he emphasizes broader consultation and promises a greater role for activists and local representatives. These political impulses are championed by the coalition – an indication that Cameron and Clegg’s partnership is beginning to change Britain party political landscape. Second, Balls is a proud friend of the trade unions and wants to restore the link between Labour and the unions, perhaps to redress Labour’s chronic financial position. Third, like Ed Miliband, he has adopted Harriet Harman’s goal of having women as 50 percent of the shadow cabinet.

Crack out the nibbles, David: looks like you’re going to win the Labour leadership. An extensive You Gov poll of Labour members and trade unionists puts David Miliband 8 points clear of his brother in the final run-off. This is the first statistical analysis that supports the general feeling in Westminster that Ed Miliband’s charge has calmed. Courtesy of John Rentoul, the results are diluted in this table. UPDATE: Mike Smithson points out that the fieldwork for this poll was carried out between 27-29 July. So I stand corrected: Ed Miliband's charge has been on the wane for a month.

One of the few things that could briefly enliven the Labour leadership contest is if Ed Balls stood down and gave his backing to another candidate. True, it didn't happen when it probably should have – that is, when all the big unions gave their backing to Ed Miliband. But as the summer advances without any slip in the Mili-lead, then maybe – just maybe – Balls might start reconsidering his options. In which case, this insight from Philip Collins' latest article in the Times (£) is worth noting down: "In 1999 Mr Balls and David Miliband used to meet regularly in Churchill’s, a café opposite the Treasury on Whitehall, in a forlorn attempt to join up the Government.

Utterly incredible. Over at ConHome, Alex Deane has highlighted something that is just utterly incredible – Team David Miliband's guide to hosting a "house meeting" in his honour. You really have to read the 6-page pdf to take in the full, fastidious horror of it all. But this tip for, erm, "building accountability" into the guest-list deserves pulling out: "Remind your guests the day before – try and build accountability into the relationship. If someone confirms then they should be there and you need to let people know you are disappointed if they don’t turn up… even if it’s just your mates!" What fun. UPDATE: By way of a hat-tip, this was first spotted by Jess Freeman over at the Total Politics blog.

While Tony Blair has been pledging a slice of his massive post-PM earnings to The Royal Legion, a tale reaches me – from an impeccable source – about what Gordon Brown is up to. He once indicated he'd devote his post-PM life to modest good works, but it appears he is also trying to build up a large nest egg of his own: in the world of public speaking, with six-figure fees. He's asked a London speaking agency to tout for speaking engagements for him in the Middle East and Asia. And the price? He's been offered at $100,000 a pop and is promising to speak on areas covered by his new book, The Financial Crisis, which is due out soon. That should have 'em roaring in the aisles.

My, what a busy character Simon Hughes is at the moment. Seems like hardly a day goes by without some fresh observations from the Lib Dem deputy leader – and he doesn't even rest on a Sunday. Today, there are two Hughesbites worth noting down, both from an interview with Sky. The first: "We should have no preference at the next election between the Tories and Labour and other parties. We are going to stand on our own." And the second: "Our party is committed constitutionally to standing in every seat. We will be standing in every seat at the next election. There will be no deals, there will be no pacts…" So, no ruling out a LibLab coalition and no electoral pacts.

Ken Livingstone’s long reign as a Labour London Mayor was predicated on his supposed insurgency against New Labour’s orthodoxy. Well, he remains intent on dissociating himself from his party. For instance today, he has endorsed Eric Pickles’ abolition of the Audit Commission. ‘This is one Tory cut I support,’ he said. This contradicts John Denham’s position. Perhaps Livingstone recognises that Labour cannot give the public sector unqualified support; there are fat cats protecting vested interests in Whitehall, just as there are in the City.

One of the challenges facing the next Labour leader will be what to do with Ed Balls. Balls, as he demonstrated in the last few months, has the right mentality for opposition. Labour will need his appetite for the fight in the coming year. But if a new leader makes Balls’ shadow Chancellor, he’ll have a shadow Chancellor whose position on the deficit is simply not going to seem credible to the public; Balls has already said that he thinks the plan Labour went into the election with for the deficit was too ambitious. The Tories are convinced that if Balls is shadow Chancellor, they’ll have the dividing lines they want on the economy. A better department for Balls to shadow would be the Home Office.

I can't work out what's stranger: that anyone, let along the author Ken Follett, should donate £100,000 to Ed Balls' leadership campaign, or that the Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher ("Mr Liverpool") should give £10,000 to the devoted Evertonian Andy Bunrham. Either way, they're probably the two stand-out entries in the latest list of Labour leadership donations. But the real story is the same as the last time the donations were published: David Miliband's monetary advantage. Even with Ed Balls raising £103,000 in July, the elder Miliband brother still comes out on top with £138,835 – adding to an overall war chest which dwarfs those of all the other contenders.