Recriminations and back-biting are now the name of the game in the Labour Party. Following their historic defeat in last week's general election, all hell has broken loose as members of that mob hunt for those to blame and those to replace them.
The Corbyn-McDonnell axis has already put it's weight behind the abominable Rebecca Long-Bailey to be the party's next leader, she being a dyed in the wool believer in the Marxist doctrine pursued by the 2 old men though of a younger generation and presumably seen as a more attractive personality. Not to me, she ain't.
The alternatives who have been touted include the even more repulsive Emily Thornberry, a woman whose snobbery knows no bounds. Entitled to call herself "Lady Nugee" owing to her husband's knighthood, she is well known for her attitude towards those who drive white vans and, most recently, has been accused of calling the electorate in a neighbouring constituency "stupid" for not agreeing with her. This last accusation has resulted in her threatening to sue a former parliamentary colleague, Caroline Flint, although whether that's just Thornberry's ego talking is yet to be revealed.
Then there's Keir Starmer, a man whose political views seem to be wholly pliable. Having voted to implement the now infamous "Article 50", he then migrated to be an ardent supporter of remaining in the European Union; having sat alongside Corbyn and McDonnell on Labour's front bench in the House of Commons and supported their Marxist policies, he now eschews such extremism and wants people to believe that he's really a staunch centrist. In truth, he's just an oily lawyer, trying to climb the slippery pole any way he can.
One who is rather less associated with the Corbyn debacle is Yvette Cooper although it seems unlikely that she would gain much support from the party's current membership which is still wedded to Corbyn's ludicrous agenda. Another in a similar vein is Lisa Nandy, although she may be seen as more acceptable than Cooper. Cooper has previously stood for the leadership and failed, while Nandy is younger and almost certainly more appealing to many Labour voters, not having the same attachment to the old regime of the Blair / Brown years. However, without the backing of some big names, her chances of success must be slim.
One thing that is probably unarguable is that anyone proposed or supported by Tony Blair has no chance. Despite stepping down from office some 12 years ago, Blair refuses to go away, still yearning for a role in politics which he's never been able to find. He had hopes of becoming President of Europe and worked tirelessly to convince fellow Europhiles that he was the right man for the job; when Brexit came on the agenda, he worked tirelessly to thwart it and today he's in the news again rabbiting on about the future of the Labour Party. Sadly for him his day is long gone and no one's listening to him anymore, not least in his old parliamentary seat of Sedgefield which turned to the Conservatives last week; a seat which Blair had won in 2005 with a majority of more than 18,000 now has a Tory representative with a majority of some 4,500. If that isn't rejection, I don't know what is.
Blair may be right that if Labour doesn't turn away from its current Marxist agenda it has no chance of gaining office ever again, but with a party membership fully in support of that same lunacy and almost equally opposed to everything that Blair has ever said or done, there is little chance that his will be anything other than a voice in the Labour wilderness.
Which all leaves the Conservatives in a very happy place, as long as they really follow through with the various promises and commitments they've given over the last few weeks. If Boris Johnson's government can truly be a government for the people, it will become an almost unbeatable force for the foreseeable future, as Labour vanishes into a Marxist black hole, the Liberal un-Democrats navel gaze and the Scottish Nationalists fade away as soon as prosperity returns. If all goes well, Johnson could find himself with an even bigger majority come 2024 and might look forward to being Prime Minister even into the 2030s.
Then again, if a week is a long time in politics, 5 years is an eternity. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, a very apt metaphor at this time of year and one which Boris Johnson would do well to heed.
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