As the convenor of the grassroots internet-based #Balls4Leader campaign it is Guido’s pleasure to inform co-conspirators that Balls has now been officially nominated by 33 MPs.

Onwards to victory comrades…

UPDATE : Could a co-conspirator come up with a suitable logo for the campaign?

Told Nicola that it is important to stress that over half the parliamentary party do not want Jaffa Miliband to be Leader. His little brother has almost as many backers, and that little girl Burnham has a small chunk.  Tom Watson has finally came through and I am now just one short of being on the official ballot paper. Getting a bit worried I am going to have ask Gordon for his vote.

Bit of a shock in Thirsk and Malton, the whole of the Labour Party was expecting we would squeeze the LibDem vote. Instead this Great Party of Ours dropped from second to third. Hope no one notices that I was the only leadership candidate to visit the constituency.

The Right Honourable Edward Balls, leader of the Labour Party. Has a nice ring to it. I will have that on my business card soon.

Guido is particularly pleased to add Susie Squire (pictured here briefing a senior political journalist) to the list of SpAds, bag carriers and wonks going over to government. She joins Philippa Stroud working at the DWP for Iain Duncan-Smith.  Formerly at the Taxpayers’ Alliance she will now be part of the team exorcising / reforming the welfare system.

Additions to the list include Richard Parr who follows Andrew Mitchell to DfID, Poppy Mitchell-Rose who goes with Osborne to the Treasury.  Honor Fishburn, daughter of Dudley Fishburn the former Tory MP for Kensington and Chelsea, goes to Downing Street to do Andy Coulson’s bidding and Cameron’s speech writing team of Ameet Gill and Claire Foges follow him from CCHQ to become the PM’s speech writing team.

There are still a few more names left to be confirmed…

Simon Hughes shouldn’t be underestimated as an operator. He cut his teeth getting rid of more than his fair share of Liberal Democrat leaders, and in cahoots with Vince Cable he is rocking the boat again. Deprived of a Cabinet seat, Sly Si’s near coronation as Deputy LibDem leader is more than a little contrived…

Cable has looked close to tears for the last week and his unexpected resignation as Clegg’s deputy, and now his very public endorsement of Hughes as his replacement, shows just how worried he is about the coalition. This way the beardy-weirdies have a voice.

Perhaps as punishment for refusing to bloody his hands in the Treasury, Cable has been landed with the most cuts to his department. He has had to eat humble pie on television and his reputation as an economic guru is all but shattered. Bound by collective cabinet responsibility he is neutered.

Though Vince may have been exposed as bit of sham and the bookies make him favourite to be the first cabinet minister to resign, don’t think he isn’t going to go down without a fight, and never forget how vicious LibDem infighting can be. So who does he turn to start causing trouble? His old mucker Hughes of course – the whole swap looks like a well executed plan – interestingly his only challenger for the leadership thus far is Tim Farron – who has been a Hughes protege and ally for many years (and was a senior figure in both Simon’s leadership campaigns).

See also Cable’s Positioning

Green MP Zac Goldsmith used his maiden speech to say:

“How many people in this country genuinely believe that when they cast their vote in a European election it will have any impact on how Europe is structured, on what decisions will be made within the EU, or even on the quality of those decisions? Decisions are being taken by people who are not elected, and are therefore insulated from any kind of democratic pressure.”