Coffee House is running a series of posts on the contenders to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour party leader. The latest is below. Click here for our profile of David Miliband, here for Jon Cruddas, here for Alan Johnson, and here for Jack Straw.
Harriet Harman, 58, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party among other roles
Pros
A complete change: On the surface of things, what greater change could there be from Gordon Brown than a female Prime Minister – and an ebullient one, at that? Even this superficial difference can make a “renewal” agenda sound that much more convincing to the electorate, and it could also steal the thunder from Conservative efforts to attract the female vote and to increase the number of women MPs. There’s also the idea that the Tories would have to dilute their attacks if faced by a female PM. On that front, it is perhaps telling that the scores are pretty much all-tied
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