Ed Miliband thinks of himself as being “excessively serious”.

I find his candour rather endearing. It sets him apart from most politicians vying for high office who would not dream of saying anything that hadn’t first been through a focus group. That said, the revelations to Mail on Sunday readers are occasionally toe curling.

In an earlier interview with Jon Snow last year he said he offers authenticity. What you see is what you get. At the time I remember scoring him ten out of ten for this self awareness.

Just imagine if previous Labour leaders had been this forthright.

Picture Blair confessing to excessive guile or Broon to excessive dourness.

What fun!

Anyway… Miliband shouldn’t dwell on what the Labour peer and academic, Lord Glasman, has to say about him.

Instead, he should concentrate on giving clear, straightforward answers to the big issues of the day. Steer away from triangulation, always calculating how best to offend the fewest number. People are fed up with that kind of politics.

Miliband’s job is to shape and mould public opinion not to follow it.

One other point. I tend to agree with the Guardian’s Simon Hoggart who says Miliband should throw away the script at PMQs and think on his feet, responding directly to what Cameron says.

This must be good advice. A clever riposte – the wittier the better - always lifts the spirits.

How to elect (or not) a Party leader

Canada’s official opposition, the left leaning NDP, is in the throes of a leadership election following the much lamented death of Jack Layton last year.

Nine hopefuls threw their hats into the ring with one Nova Scotia MP since dropping out because of his lamentably weak French.

The great disadvantage of having such a crowded field is that the candidates’ debates are necessarily quick-fire affairs. Thirty second answers are the norm. Sometimes even more compressed than that.

Bizarrely, I find myself forming impressions of the candidates based on a phrase or a hand gesture!

I nod in approval as I hear Thomas Mulcaire, the fluently bi-lingual MP from Quebec, talk about Alberta’s “tar’ sands. Apologists for the industry always use the more neutral “oil” sands.

Candidates do not require nominations from NDP MPs to enter the race. Anyone who can secure 500 signatures from NDP members – at least half from women - across the five NDP regions of Canada can enter the ring.

Indeed, one candidate, Brian Topp, is a long time Party strategist and not an MP.

The gruelling six month long contest ends on 24 March. And for many, it comes not a moment too soon.

The MP contenders had to give up their Commons portfolios for the duration of the leadership contest.

This is supposed to create a more level playing field, making sure front bench spokespeople can’t hog the limelight.

It’s all very Canadian.

Meanwhile the Liberal Party of Canada licks its wounds. (See attachment below)

Next week its convention will try to learn the lessons of its defeat in last year’s federal election which reduced its representation in the House of Commons to 34 seats (out of 301).

In a timetable that is leisurely to say the least, the Party will elect a leader in 2013, making do with an interim leader, Bob Rae, until then.

Canada’s 0.01%

The excellent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives gets huge coverage for its report on the pay of Canada’s business elite.

The 100 top-paid Chief Executives made 189 times the average Canadian’s salary in 2010.

Here is how the story was covered by the CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster.

Attachments:

Liberal Roadmap. Long version.pdf	[A Road Map to Renewal. Liberal Party of Canada]	674 Kb
NDP_Rulebook_EN.pdf	[NDP Leadership Rules]	1145 Kb