Don’t laugh but here's why 'Prime Minister Ed Miliband' may be Labour's least-worst option

Cameron got his victory – and then ushered in a decade of political chaos which remains with us to this day. Having consumed the Conservatives, that turmoil has infected the Labour party as well, as they search frantically for a viable replacement for Keir Starmer.

Don’t laugh – but 11 years after his last leadership stint ended, “chaos with Ed Miliband” really might be the best option left for Labour. This is not – let me be clear – an endorsement of Mr Miliband. It is not even a prediction that he will win, leadership contests being what they are. But let’s run down the major alternatives facing Labour.

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Wes Streeting is deeply distrusted by the broad sweep of the left, both those within the Labour party and without – those whose support Labour must surely seek to win back. Angela Rayner, another plausible choice, has only just resolved her tax issues, which could remain an electoral liability.

There is a host of ambitious but untested new MPs who might someday amount to something, but will surely see this as the wrong moment to step forward – and then there is Andy Burnham.

Burnham is not even an MP at this point. He will have to fight and win the upcoming by-election in Makerfield just to qualify for the job. That is no small task when you consider how few Labour seats can truly be classed as ‘safe’ in 2026, and that Reform are expected to take Makerfield by a comfortable margin on current polling projections.

If Burnham makes it through, he will surely be the frontrunner for the Labour leadership, but every party – particularly Reform and the Greens – therefore has every incentive to stop him reaching the Commons, and stop his leadership bid before it begins. Which brings us back to Ed.

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Mr Miliband is the only major figure in the Labour party who can do what used to be considered the very basics of good politics. He has a vision for how government should work. He can articulate his ideas and political values from first principles. He understands the connection between those values and the policy levers that can be pulled – and he knows how to execute policy in government.

All of that, ten or 20 years ago, would have been the equivalent of saying he can walk and chew gum at the same time. The fact that he is the only person in the Labour parliamentary party who possesses these basic qualities is a dire indictment of their current state – but you can only select from the options that are before you.

If Mr Burnham falls short in the coming by-election, and if Mr Starmer continues to dither and drift, then someone else is going to have to step up, no matter how implausible (or undesirable) they might appear. Perhaps this is Labour’s moment to rewind the clock – and, finally, to embrace chaos with Prime Minister Ed Miliband.

William Deans is chief of staff to Alistair Carmichael MP, and holds an MSc in nationalism and ethnic conflict.