 And that means he’s actually the guy with the widest interface with the voters.Greg’s always trying to pull Ed’s people back towards that swath of former Labour voters the party lost under Blair.While every-one else is banging on about how to hang on to former Lib Dems, Greg’s popping up and saying, “Fine, but remember that if we want to win, there’s a few blue-collar, small-c conservatives we’re going to need to pull across as well.”’

The Daily Mail alleges that Beales feared tensions between Douglas Alexander, Ed Balls and Milliband threatened the Labour party's strategic efficacy.