Betfair punters now reckon Jack Straw is the favourite to succeed Gordon as Chancellor when the position becomes vacant. Which has a certain logic to it, but did Gordon actually make Straw an offer he couldn’t refuse? If Gordon “I don’t bear grudges” Brown asks you to run his campaign, what are you going to do? Learn to swim with the fishes? Alastair Darling won’t be pleased, but what can he do? Has Gordon calculated that another Scot at the Treasury will be too much?

The question is why hasn’t Gordon asked Miliband to be his deputy campaign manager? Seems awfully uncharacteristically brave to leave Blair’s chosen successor at a loose end…

Jack Straw is obviously going to need to top up Gordon’s male dominated team with some women to give it a more inclusive feel. Why not people he has some experience with? Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP who sat on the EU convention’s 13-strong presidium has experience, and Oona King has a younger funkier appeal with the bonus of ethnicity thrown in. She also charmed Gordon at the Fabian conference recently with the improbable (pre-Kylie) claim that “If you want celebrity and glitz, Gordon is not your man.” No harm in boosting Gordon’s campaign with some female talent…