Labour has come under fire from the Chair of the Equality & Human Rights Commission, Trevor Philips, who said "If Barack Obama had lived here I would be very surprised if even somebody as brilliant as him would have been able to break through the institutional stranglehold on power within the Labour Party".

writes Labourhome Editor Alex Hilton in PR Week

At church on Sunday, I observed the minute's silence to remember the fallen in war, just like so many times before. This year it occurred to me that just remembering is not enough.

It is completely right to remember our fellow human beings who have been killed in battle. It is completely right to remember the recent casualties among our armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also completely right to remember that these two wars were started, not for the defence of the realm, but for the financial gain of the few.

David Lammy gave the keynote speech at Saturday's Fabian conference on the post-US elections. There was a good and punchy challenge mocking David Cameron's attempt to suggest he should be thought of as a British Obama. "He is a progressive friend of ours", said Lammy, setting out five big arguments where the New Tories fundamentally disagree with both Labour and the Democrats about what progressive change demands.

I cannot properly express the mixture of both relief and excitement I currently have. Obama’s election to the highest office in the world is the greatest promise this generation could have given to the world. As a product of a post-sixties era that became cynical and selfish, Obama shows the potential to be both idealistic and pragmatic in government, politics and policy.

I'm in New York, my first time in the US, and it is a truly alien environment. I have witnessed no shootings or high-speed car chases, and I have encountered only one man masturbating in Central Park. The train emergency instructions, on every subway ticket, include the mystifying edict: 'Do not pull the emergency cord.' This may be the land of the free, but it is also the home of single-ply loo roll.

Writes Labourhome Editor Alex Hilton in PR Week

There's apparently an election today, and I suppose that's a good thing. Here's what you'll want to look out for tonight, when waiting for the results to come in.

[N.B: Number in brackets denote the electoral college votes]

We're expecting the results to stream in around midnight GMT.

Obama is expected to carry Vermont, VT (3) and Virginia, VA (13).
Kerry won VT and Bush won VA in 2004.

McCain is expected to carry Georgia, GA (15); Kentucky, KY (8); South Carolina, SC (8); West Virginia, WV (5).
Bush won all these in 2004.

Swing states: Indiana, IN (11); Ohio, OH (20); North Carolina, NC (15).
Bush won all three of these in 2004.

If Obama wins two out of those three swing states (and also carries Virginia), we have President-elect Barack Obama. You'll be able to go home at this point, and not miss a thing.

Around 1am GMT, we'll have the second tranche of results come in.

Obama is expected to carry Connecticut, CT (7); Delaware, DE (3); the District of Columbia, DC (3); Illinois, IL (21); Maine, ME (4); Maryland, MD (10); Massachussetts, MA (12); New Hampshire, NH (4); New Jersey, NJ (15); Pennsylvania, PA (21), Michigan, MI (17).
Kerry won all of these, with the exception of Connecticut, in 2004. Joe Lieberman is from Connecticut.
Joe Biden is from Delaware

McCain is expected to carry Alabama, AL (9); Arkansas, AR (6); Mississippi, MS (6); Oklahoma, OK (7); Tennessee, TN (11).
Bush won all of these states in 2004.

Swing states: Florida, FL (27); Missouri, MO (11).
Bush won both Florida and Missouri in 2004.

Read more

YouGov President Peter Kellner, in a new piece on the Fabian website, addresses the Bradley effect and fears that the polls will be proved wrong by voters who say they will vote Obama choosing not to vote for a black candidate on the day, and explains why the opposite could be true.

There is a growing list of right-wingers, who are calling Barack Obama "uppity". Yes that's right, uppity.

Ironic when right-wingers are supposed to support meritocratic policies.

My background on my mum's side is from Arkansas, so I know how often the word uppity is combined with "nigger".

On our side of the Atlantic, Richard Littlejohn and Fraser Nelson have so far called Barack Obama uppity.

Andrew Sullivan has highlighted many GOP politicians who are also calling Senator Obama uppity.

Whatever you think of Obama, we all know he is the first serious non-white contender for the presidency. When there are right-wingers who dismiss a black man who is a success story, and a role model for many black people trapped in poverty in the US, it only makes it ok for some black people to see successful black people as "coconuts". That is not good for integration in the US, reducing poverty in the US, or for social mobility in the US.

But the effect Obama has on many black people I know, suggests that there could be a similar impact here for many black people to succeed.

BTW I'm not at all stereotyping. It is just that people in poverty are disproportionately from a minority background.

Perhaps the most striking passage in Barack Obama's Berlin speech was the prominence he gave to his call for the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. That will sound radical to both American and European ears. But there is growing bipartisan and heavyweight support for this in the United States and elsewhere, including Britain, which trascends the controversial history of nuclear disarmament in British (and Labour) politics.

In this week's New Statesman, I argue that all minority shortlists would be a step backwards.

An alternative approach would seek to tackle barriers which candidates face across class, race and gender. Please share ideas about what that might mean in practice.

From Huffington Post.

It is, of course, brilliant. One of the most appropriate speeches I've ever read. This honest and challenging approach is why I'm a fan.

How things look for Senator Barack Obama from a Labour activist, stateside

Gordon Brown is well known for his fondness of US politics and for holidaying in the US, but as the Presidential primaries get underway, what would be his relationship with the next occupant of the White House?

Michelle Obama will be descending on London for a fundraiser for her husband’s campaign at the swanky Landmark Hotel, on Monday.  Her husband (above) will not be there as his team are reluctant to let him leave the U.S at this crucial time, so Michelle will be standing in.

The consensus seems to be that Clinton and Giuliani have got their parties' nominations in hand. But Obama can win the nomination. Because for the first time since 1960, African-Americans will have a major influence over a presidential election. They will be the key deciders of who gets the Democratic nomination. At the moment, they're split between Clinton and Obama, but leaning towards Hillary. Obama needs to win over this constituency, otherwise Hillary will win the primaries in a landslide. Otherwise, this may happen:

Now that Fred Thompson has entered the race it appears there are 7 big names in the contest to become President of the United States after George W Bush. Which one do you want to win?