There must have been some occasional doubt even in Diane Abbott’s own house that she was a serious contender for the Labour leadership. Now that it’s over it’s fair to say that it had three principal results.
It very effectively scuppered John McDonnell’s opportunity to take a much more radical message and track record into the party and the unions. Obviously this was a completely unintended consequence for those who egged Abbott on.
Her profile is a bit higher now and this probably won’t adversely affect her income from TV appearances.
It has shone a spotlight on life inside many local Labour Parties. In her own constituency she received 20.55% of the vote. She was beaten handsomely by David Miliband who got 34.8% of the vote there. Ed got 71% in his. There are a couple of conclusions we can take from this. One is that your base inside a party isn’t that strong when only one person in five of those who have most contact with you are willing to vote for you. The other is that one person in three in that constituency is an unreconstructed Blairite and Hackney used to be quite left wing. God knows what the other CLPs are like. In 112 David Miliband received more than 50% of the vote.
The votes from the unions were revealing. Diane Abbott won 10% from Unite; 7.45% from GMB; 10.3% from Unison. Ed Miliband did very well winning 42.63% from Unite; 42.05% from GMB; 34.3% from Unison and trounced his brother who got 19.57% from Unite; 22.61% from GMB; 23.68% from Unison. These are impressive margins.
Miliband’s victory and that of Ken Livingstone were two big setbacks for the Blairites. Diane Abbott seems to think that it could also be a career opportunity and used a slot on BBC’s Question Time to remind Ed just how great she thinks he is. Coincidentally she is also standing in the shadow cabinet election as "the voice of the cities".
Quite what this means isn’t altogether clear. She thinks cuts are not a good idea but says "Of course there is no question that we would have had to take tough action on the deficit" which most likely translates as "of course we’d make big cuts too but a bit more slowly and I’m happy to go along with that if it gets me a promotion". Whatever else it is you can’t honestly describe it as a reluctance to making the working class pick up the bill for the capitalist offensive.
Maybe there was a fourth result of Abbott’s candidacy. It makes it damn near impossible to argue with any conviction that she presently sits on the left of the Labour Party. It’s a shame in a way. The party has had a big influx of new members who are joining it as a way of fighting for their class against the Tories and many of the union members who voted for Ed Miliband were thinking the same thought.
Liam redux 
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