If your a Labour member looking at the possibility of winning, it has to be Starmer.. hes a great antidote to boris, and I can see him winning over a huge number of middle-class one-nation torries.
People are spending a long time talking about how Labour can win back their voters, and who is best to unify the party. Which is great a step-1, but if you want to actually win an election, you need to be doing what Blair did and converting a mass of tory-voters to Labour voters, not just tidying up the Labour vote. Stamer is the only one I can currently see being able to actually convert Tory voters, upposed to just winning back the ones Labour lost.
Nandy is great, shes really gone up in my estimation, but shes to fresh and young. I don't think she wants or expects to win, shes just cleverly getting her name out there, putting herself in line for a decent role in the next shadow-cabinet, and then she will try again in 5-10 years when ever the opportunity arises. And by then, she will probably be a really formidable and credible prospect.
Phillips reputation is too tarnished. Thornberry is a walking disaster in terms of leadership..
And then we have RLB as I see her name now written (which is good because I'm not sure how to spell it). Shes peaked my interest recetly with all the articles about her and abortion. Seems she wasn't as left as I was led to believe. I think she would do a good job as leader, and certainly better than Corbyn this time around - after all she is him but without the baggage and with the bonus (in liberal circles) of being a woman and northern.
I do think she would unify the party, and I do think she would raise their seat total.. but I just don't see her beating Boris. Shes not a strong debater, and shes not great when it comes to detail/substance. The reason I think Starmer does well against boris is because he won't try and out-boris boris.. he won't try and compete for humor or charisma, but just do what he does and go hard on the detail/fact/policy as hes done repeatidly on TV over the last few years. For me that's the way you beat boris.. a joker, even a funny one looks stupid when put up against someone who has all the information and all the detail at their fingers. RLB can bring more charm than Starmer, and gives a reasonable speach, but shes nothing compared to boris when it comes to presenting himself in a charming way. You won't beat him at his own game, so go with Starmer who will play an entirely different game.
As far as whose possitions are better. Who cares? What does it matter if Starmer is less left wing than RLB or Phillips is more centerist than Thornberry.. they are all more left-wing than Boris, and none of it matters if you can't beat him. The only thing on Labours mind should be who can win, because if you don't win all the rest is irrelevant.