With the candidates back from holiday, the finishing line is finally in sight for the Labour leadership. The news that the New Statesman has fallen in line with the Labour youth and trade union movement to back Ed Miliband shouldn’t really come as much surprise. What is shocking is how seriously Labour hacktivists seem to be taking the endorsement of a magazine that barely scrapes 15,000 copies a month. To describe it as “big media endorsement” beggars belief. It seems the Staggers knows it’s audience though – all the university library readers were voting Ed anyway.

Word is lefty firebrand Jon Cruddas, whose second preference votes gave Harman the deputy-leadership in 2007, is set to endorse David Miliband imminently – real votes that would blow the New Statesman’s mere words out of the water.

UPDATE : Cruddas has endorsed D-Mili as expected.