Miliband's personal failings were exaggerated by the press and Cameron's hidden by the same group and we still live in an age where a significant number of voting people still believe what the newspaper tells them. The PM is just a figurehead and you're right, David Cameron is a good figurehead for his party. Ed Miliband was not, Miliband is someone you want in the back room setting policy on inequality. Just like Corbyn is the guy you want in the back room setting policy on societal change and how to stop the country hating each other. Labour doesn't have a single MP who can be a figurehead. If you think Corbyn's bad look at Kezia Dugdale. **** me, that's a car crash of a politician right there.

Maybe Chuka Umunna could be that person, but he's another third way Red Tory/Blue Liberal and this isn't the time for him. He should be a shadow chancellor for a young, positive, modern shadow leader who is not scared to shout about inclusivity and look good doing it. A Justin Trudeau, actually! Or an Yvette Cooper without the Blairite baggage.

I really, really hope Trudeau's anti-austerity agenda doesn't crash and burn. I really don't think I can put up with any more divide and conquer politics.

I see the Tories are now blaming the NDP for their loss. "The NDP lost control of its “change” message when it shifted into prime ministerial takeover mode and left the field open to Trudeau, and when that happened, Conservative prospects sank." (Ken Boessenkool)

Nothing to do with a cynical attempt to exploit Islamophibia. Nothing at all.

The SNP are the ultimate opportunists, probably even more so than New Labour.

Heart on the left, head on the right: the contradictions inside the SNP

I suppose now would be a good time to speculate on Harper's successor.

Jim Prentice 100-1
Jason Kenney Evens
Paul Polivere 10000-1
Does anybody remember David Orchard who had the honour of being the first person stabbed in the back by the recently deposed Satan?

I'll go with a million to one, but the poor sod deserves it.

There are a few other recently-ex-ministers kicking around in the wings. Pierre Poilievre (a Franco-Albertan, brought up in Calgary, transplanted to an Ottawa riding - that'd confuse the Reformists), anyone? He's worked in the past as a policy assistant to both Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, so his Harperist credentials are fairly unequivocal...

How about Tony Clement? Can he overcome the G20 capital investment scandal (how many $million for 'border security measures' in a constituency a couple hundred miles from the US border?)? Or Maxime Bernier - although his habit of leaving sensitive documents in the home of his unsuitable girlfriend might be a hindrance...

Lisa Raitt's name has been bandied around, too - I don't know enough about her personal politics, but she did a reasonable job as transport minister, handling the aftermath of Lac-Megantic quite well, despite the fact that she doesn't speak French. She might have time to learn enough French to get by on the national stage if the interim leader is in place for long enough.

I don't believe for one second that the next Conservative leader will be from Alberta.

How about MacKay? I could see him making a come back.

Another quote from the same article, speculating if Harper should have done a Call-me-Dave and promised not to seek an additional term:

“The instant response was, ‘Well who am I voting for then? Am I voting for Jason Kenney because then I’m definitely not voting Conservative and I’m definitely not supporting your campaign,’ ” said another Conservative source who also spoke on condition of anonymity."

At least someone there has some sense. I will not take you up on evens. I bet there will be several ex-cabinet ministers who will decide spending more time with their families is not all that it is cracked up to be.

I don't think he is particularly right wing although the usual suspects love to characterize him as such. He had a sort of Toad of Toad Hall image though (I remember him driving his vintage green sports car with goggles on etc) but didn't have the personality to carry it of in the way someone like Alan Clarke could. He was the quiet man etc. Utterly unelectable and doomed to fail against Blair who probably couldn't believe his luck.

I also heard a report that Brad Wall has signed up for a French immersion course.

He just said on CBC Power & Politics he was too involved in running the next provincial campaign in Sask and he really enjoys the job.
There again if he gets defeated then that French course might come in useful

A few little tweaks here and there where politically acceptable.

“I said ‘Justin, stop it,’” Suzuki told CBC. “‘You’re just being political. I know that you want to make headway in Alberta so you’re for the continued development of the tar sands, you’re for the Keystone pipeline, but you’re against the Northern Gateway [pipeline]. You’re all over the damn map!’”

In Suzuki’s version of the conversation, Trudeau did not appreciate the critique or hearing that keeping warming to 2C, the internationally agreed goal of the climate talks, would mean that 80% of the crude in the tar sands would have to stay in the ground.

JT playing politics with science of course not....

He was elected as leader because he wasn't Ken Clarke. The conservative party as a whole had definitely lurched to the right at this point.

In the final round of MP voting IDS only survived by one vote against Michael Portillo with Ken Clarke receiving the most votes. The MPs favoured the moderate candidates.

In the membership vote IDS easily won.

I think you are hand waving things a bit here.

Ken Clarke was the moderate candidate and was rejected for being to lefty and pro europe.

Portillo had his chances scuppered by Tebbit talking about family men.

IDS was the only palatable candidate to the right wing base that remained in the party after New Labour came to power.

They're partly right, they hoped the NDP did better to maintain the vote split in the GTA. The vote drop for the Tories doesn't explain how many seats they lost but the vote drop for the NDP does.

Personally I thought it was bonkers for them to hope for that, but it was clear from their Liberal bashing and virtually ignoring the NDP that was the strategy they were going for.