As I mentioned this morning, it was notable that of the 48 Labour welfare rebels last night, 21 were either newly elected in May or first elected in by-elections under Ed Miliband’s leadership. This represents a serious and lasting change to the Parliamentary Labour Party. Not long ago it seemed that the old loony left (the Jeremy Corbyns and Gerald Kaufmans of the world) would die out eventually because they were, well, old. Now the red reservoir has been topped up by a new generation, who may linger for decades.
Here they are (by-election dates in brackets where relevant, all others first elected in May 2015):
Debbie Abrahams, Oldham East and Saddleworth (2011 by-election)
Richard Burgon, Leeds East
Peter Dowd, Bootle
Margaret Greenwood, Wirral West
Louise Haigh, Sheffield Heeley
Carolyn Harris, Swansea East
Sue Hayman, Workington
Imran Hussain, Bradford East
Gerald Jones, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Clive Lewis, Norwich South
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Salford and Eccles
Andy McDonald, Middlesbrough (2012 by-election)
Liz McInnes, Heywood and Middleton (2014 by-election)
Rachael Maskell, York Central
Kate Osamor, Edmonton
Marie Rimmer, St Helens South and Whiston
Paula Sherriff, Dewsbury
Tulip Siddiq, Hampstead and Kilburn
Cat Smith, Lancaster and Fleetwood
Jo Stevens, Cardiff Central
Daniel Zeichner, Cambridge
Interestingly, being part of Generation Miliband isn’t all they have in common. At least 17 of the 21 are closely linked to Unite – either as former employees, elected officers, activists or recipients of endorsements and funding from the union. What proportion of Labour’s new generation is dancing to Len McCluskey’s tune?