With Alan Johnson, Harriet Harman and Ed Balls now openly raising their own profiles and jockeying for position, Gordon looks increasingly like a lame duck PM. Dougie Alexander has used the same trick as Hazel of a “speech in his constituency” to release to the press his rebuke to the increasingly sharp elbowing by potential candidates;

“The many party staff I have met this week who, with our members, will be on the front line of that campaign, want the direction and focus of the Cabinet’s efforts to be getting Britain through the downturn and working together to secure a Labour victory. All of us should remember the words from our party’s constitution, on the back of our membership card: ‘By the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone.’ When the general election comes, securing a fourth term will be difficult but do-able. The task of securing that fourth term will require unity, effort and innovation.”

It is becoming increasingly likely that the Labour Party is readying itself to dump Gordon, if they do, they will have to have an immediate general election. We can’t have two successive Prime Ministers foisted on the country by the Labour Party without any mandate.