A big surprise for Labour voters: not as big a surprise as for Diane Abbott!

Twitter’s been buzzing today with voters talking about frantically about the forthcoming Labour leadership election. Everyone’s been doing http://votematch.org.uk it seems, and interestingly if you search for the leaders’ names using using search.twitter.com/ you’ll find the vast majority are closest to Diane Abbott! Surely some mistake?

Andy Burnham

emma_louise__: Politics aside I think that Andy Burnham was quite handsome :/ hmmm...

33 minutes ago via web

jason_manc: North West Tonight: "Andy Burnham is hoping to become the first Labour leader from the region in 90 years" - has about as much chance as me.

33 minutes ago via Twitter for Android

labourlist: Andy Burnham attacked coalition plans for the health service, saying that the 'N' in NHS is under attack

http://bit.ly/aRmnX0 (expand)

about 1 hour ago via bitly

charlisteele: Though, I think we can all agree that Andy Burnham is the prettiest candidate.

about 2 hours ago via TweetDeck

Ed Balls

Paul0Evans1: Mary Riddell on Ed Balls: http://tinyurl.com/2vedzpf (expand) I think she's right that he'd eat Osborne alive if he were Shadow Chancellor.

about 1 hour ago via web

david_waddell: Ed Balls is on my tube train...

about 1 hour ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

justmart: Ed Balls wants to talk policy, not personality. It's a good job really Ed.

about 1 hour ago via web ·

ferrisprobablee: I came out closest to Ed Balls on http://votematch.org.uk <--- Bloody hell!

about 2 hours ago via web

new_leader: www.edballs.tk RT @hastie41 If ed balls isn't to win, then edballs4chancellor?

about 3 hours ago via twitterfeed ·

Diane Abbott

harry_matthews: My Dad got Ed Miliband & my Mum got Diane Abbott...

44 minutes ago via Echofon

d0od: David rehearsed' Miliband, Andy who?, Diane 'electoral suicide' Abbott and two 'eds who make sense. Who goes? You Decid.. wait.. wrong show

about 2 hours ago via Turpial ·

MindInFlux: I came out closest to Diane Abbott on http://votematch.org.uk << So did everyone else? Who's running votematch? #conspiracy!

about 5 hours ago via web

SoniaRothwell: Bugger. "I came out closest to Diane Abbott on http://votematch.org.uk"

about 7 hours ago via web

TNLibertarian: Insanely, I should vote for Diane Abbott (of course, not being a member of the stupid party, I can't) - http://votematch.org.uk

about 7 hours ago via web

Ed Miliband

mtcomp: RT @GetLabourOut: New at the bookshop. Ed Miliband's new book - Cul de Sacs of Great Britain? http://wp.me/POoYT-6H http://ow.ly/2xfe8

about 1 hour ago via HootSuite

annadoble: RT @j_freedland: Labour needs the credibility of David and the freshness of Ed | Jonathan Freedland http://bit.ly/8X69Qo (expand)

about 1 hour ago via twitterfeed

jenfortnam: Ed Miliband looks like Wallace off of Wallace & Gromit.

about 1 hour ago via Echofon

jfraseruk: @danzi94 For a moment I thought that was Ed Miliband

about 2 hours ago via TweetDeck

GreatSociety64: Had a gd conversation tonight with an MP ringing up on behalf of Ed Miliband. I'm excited about the future of Labour leadership.

about 2 hours ago via TweetDec

David Miliband

ArmyofDave: I shall be voting for David & Ed Miliband's brother Steve. For he speaks of the pompitous of love. Please don't judge me for that tweet.

about 4 hours ago via Osfoora for iPhone

lisa_m_miller: Why David Miliband Should Be The Next Labour Leader! http://nblo.gs/7ojw8

28 minutes ago via NetworkedBlogs

iaincorby: As a true blue Tory, http://votematch.org.uk suggests I vote for David Miliband 1st, Balls 2nd and Ed M. 3rd. Sorry Diane.

about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck

thecredo: David Miliband has said that he would serve under Ed. Good. He may have to. http://bit.ly/aEdWNO (expand) (Indy) #ukpolitics

about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck

jagsingh: VoteMatch.org.uk says I'm aligned with Diane Abbott and David Miliband. Wow, just wow.

about 8 hours ago via Power Twitter

Mandy and the Milibands

This sounds a bit like 'Henderson and the Bigfoots'. But Mandy is determined to make this a two-horse race, and my friends who support Andy Burnham, Ed Balls and Diane Abbott would take some umbrage at this. The second-choice votes again. Lord Mandelson must begin to realise that he doesn't have the last word on this, although I must say that David Miliband is most likely to win.  Mandy producing mental masturbation of New Labour, as the definition provided by Mark Twain puts it, does not particularly help. Maybe he is still grieving over New Labour.

Five Star?

Well, if you had to have an evening with only one of them to talk politics and have a drink, who would you choose? I don't drink, so that for that reason alone I'd have a mineral water. Probably the person I would choose is Andy Burnham, as I think he's a nice bloke. He is been very pleasant when I met him, and we'd have loads to talk about in terms of the NHS/National Care Strategy. We'd probably even talk about the National Dementia Strategy, and talk about rehabilitation for offenders with mental illness. I am fantasising now. Who will I vote for? Probably David Miliband, as he is the one the media wants to either like or knock, come next election. I will vote for the David then, take that risk, and this is a big deal as I disagree with him on virtually everything, including foreign policy and ID cards. Never mind, we're all in this together. Aren't we?

Who does it for you?

I got rung up by David Miliband's team today. I said I probably would vote for David Miliband as leader, as he is probably the one most likely to win it for us. However, I know many like all of the others. It's a tough choice. What do you think?