I read my HTC during my long walks – and today we’ve got news that the biggest trade union has backed Ed Milliband, rather than his more polished brother David.Not entirely surprising, but against perceived wisdom.

Behind them lies Ed Balls, a man who I’d never get tired of punching. Whenever I see him on the television, I just want to put an axe into his face. There’s an unusual blend of arrogance and smugness, even for a politician. Behind Balls is Andy Burnham, who is Mr. Common, but also argues quite poorly when interviewed. And even further behind Burnham is Diane Abbot, who is even more obnoxious than Balls and a poor advertisement for women in politics.

I think it’s safe to say the winner will come from the brothers Milliband and Balls. And you can further narrow that to the brothers Milliband, unless the grass-roots loses all semblance of sense and wants to put in a potential PR disaster and whom Cameron would run rings around. Balls appears to adopt a strategy of extreme criticism, and very little else – he’s an attack dog, not a man to be at the helm of a policy body.

Not to say the other two candidates are without flaw. Ed Milliband and Ed Balls disgraced themselves by distancing themselves from the Iraq war, immediately after announcing their entry to the race. Despite being good Government men and endorsing both the war and the reasons behind it. In other words, they either were cowards and didn’t express their disagreement to the point of resignation, or they had absolutely no morals and kept quiet to stay in power.

David Milliband doesn’t appear to have many vices. Unfortunately he doesn’t appear to have a lot of charisma either, and this could be a problem. Perfectly presentable. Perfectly reasonable. Probably very good in a debate – but is he going to capture the willing participation of the public? Arguably Cameron didn’t, but he was up against Brown who was the political equivilant of a dead horse’s head, severed and put in the bed of the general public.

Cameron now however has the opportunity of power to build his credentials. He’s also got the shroud of yellow provided by the Liberal Democrats. The public have bought the line that Labour bankrupted the UK economy, and tough action has to be taken. I certainly also subscribe to this, although some of the policies put through since seen more opportunistic than strictly necessary. But it’s certainly true that the public sector is way too bloated. He may very well forge a reputation as a man who gets things done and saves UK PLC. And that can be a very powerful.

So, back to Labour. David is a bit bland, Ed Balls is on the harder left of the party – and thus too far to the left of general public opinion. This leaves Ed Milliband, and whom I personally looked to be the man most likely to reverse Labour’s fortunes when all the runners and riders were declared. Younger, and more importantly younger looking, a bit more of a tint of the left to move him away from Cameron, he could do much to get the public to take a punt on him.

My vote, and this is simply as an observer of the race, would be Ed Milliband.