Labour’s problem is that its old leopards don’t want to change their spots

Alan Johnson’s interview with Total Politics highlights one of Ed Miliband’s two big problems for 2015. One is the influence of trade unions over policy, or at least the perceived influence. The second, which Johnson expounds on, is whether it is too much to ask voters to trust Labour again when its top team contains so many familiar faces from the last government. Johnson tells Sam Macrory:

‘Everything is focused on what the chancellor is doing, not what the shadow chancellor is doing, and it’s a tough call. He’s also got to turn round this defeat, where for a long time the myth was created that it was because we overspent – and he was part of that, so he’s got to overcome that as well, so it’s a tough job for him.’

He adds:

‘To try and turn it round in one five-year Parliament is really tough, and you’re kind of not helped by the same team or loads of the same team being on the frontbench.