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The shadow cabinet election results, declared yesterday evening, have attracted much comment in Wales. Eight Welsh MPs, all of them former ministers, three of them Privy Councillors and two of them former cabinet members, stood for election, yet none was successful.
Asked to explain this on BBC Wales news, David Hanson, the MP for Delyn, opined that “there were far too many Welsh MPs standing for election, and that split the Welsh vote.”
He was echoed, almost word for word, on Newsnight by the former Welsh Secretary, Peter Hain.
To an outsider, this is a perplexing point of view, but one that gives an interesting insight into the tribal nature of Labour politics.
Precisely what would have been the right number of Welsh candidates? Do Welsh Labour MPs have to vote for at least one Welsh candidate? How many Welsh candidates would a Scottish or English Member feel comfortable supporting?
And why, if they were of sufficient calibre, should not all the Welsh candidates have been elected? It’s all very baffling to an outsider.
However, there is some cause for hope in Welsh Labour ranks. In an 
announcement redolent of Carroll’s caucus race, Ed Miliband has confirmed that his shadow cabinet will indeed contain a Welsh member, despite none having been elected.
Cause also for optimism, surely, on the part of Peter Hain, who was one of the first to declare his support for Miliband Minor’s candidacy.
