THERE was none of the booing that hogged the headlines following some of the first Labour leadership hustings.

This hustings for members of Labour’s 15 affiliated trade unions was the “comradely” debate that Ed Miliband called for when he sparked the contest to succeed him.

Three of the candidates went further, vying in their own way to pick up Mr Miliband’s mantle.

Changing his tune after calling Labour “toxic” under Mr Miliband last week, Andy Burnham began his open remarks by “giving credit where credit is due” regarding the former leader.

It was a point that Yvette Cooper and Jeremy Corbyn broadly agreed with. Only Liz Kendall was keen to disassociate herself.

She offered assurances that Labour’s link with the trade unions were safe in her hands, but said any election loss must lead to major changes.

“Don’t tell me we can’t be pro-business and pro-worker.”

Her position might normally be viewed as politically expedient, given that Mr Miliband has just led Labour to defeat.

However it left her out step with the hundreds of Labour members in the hall, who clearly wanted to see his centre-left drift continued.

That left Mr Burnham and Ms Cooper battling it out to be the continuity candidate.

Both frontrunners also played to their audience.

Mr Burnham pleased the crowd when he drew “parallels” between the railways and the NHS, saying both had suffered “too much privatisation and fragmentation.”

Ms Cooper traced her trade union roots back to a strike she called in secondary school after the head boy was stripped of his prefect’s badge.

She even unsuccessfully tried to call a “candidates’ strike” when chair Kevin Maguire asked the obligatory price-of-a-pint-of-milk questions.

It was clear though that the crowd were with Mr Corbyn, who has stood on their picket lines, spoken at their meetings and raised their problems in Parliament for decades.

“We have to stand up for what this movement was founded for — to improve the lot of the working class in this country,” he said.

Only Mr Corbyn promised, not only to oppose further attacks on strike rights, but repeal laws passed under Thatcher.

In the end the only similarity with previous hustings was how much applause was won by the left candidate.

How long until the debate is branded “too comradely?”