Washington's 2008 take on Gordon Brown's potential successors

'David Miliband is a high-flying young member of the Government whose name inevitably tops 'future leader' lists'
Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian

'Harriet Harman ... is a relative policy light weight but an adept inter-party operator'
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

'For many in the Labour party, Alan Johnson pushes all the right personal buttons' but a 'lack of killer instinct ... make[s] him more suitable to serve as a deputy prime minister'
Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

'Ed Balls ... has shown himself to be less than suited to the top job: his public speaking is derided as "dull", his slightly awkward manner as "charmless", and he has many enemies within the party'
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

'Jon Crudas [sic] is a wild card ... [He] has already shown himself to be a highly astute and wily politician'
Photograph: Richard Saker for the Observer

Andy Burnham 'is a dark horse favorite among Labour members ... The Cambridge-educated father-of-three has a common touch his rivals envy'
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

'Private secretary told us [Shriti] Vadera would regularly scream from her desk, "Get me a cup of coffee" with a string of expletives attached, prompting three scheduling assistants to leave her office in three months'
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Damian McBride is 'unpopular within the Labour Party according to our contacts, and a particularly unpleasant person based on our own experiences with him'
Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian