The Shadow Business Secretary’s contribution to Labour’s summer of ‘The Choice’ speeches really set the world on fire this afternoon. They were queuing round the block to hear him:

Chuka’s got some way to go to reach that dream of his…

Victory for the anti-austerity brigade as Labour’s NEC results are published this afternoon:

LIVINGSTONE, Ken 39,548 Elected
BLACK, Ann 36,496 Elected
REEVES, Ellie 31,278 Elected
SHAWCROFT, Christine 29,558 Elected
OSAMOR, Kate 28,484 Elected
BAXTER, Johanna 24,325 Elected
+
McMAHON, Jim 1,894 Elected (Local Gov)
PERRY, Alice 1,510 Elected (Local Gov)

Don’t tell Austin Mitchell, but now five sixths of the CLP representation on the Party’s governing body are now women.

“Left, left, left” says one Labour source. Progress candidate Peter Wheeler has been booted off, to be replaced by Kate Osamor from the ambitiously titled Campaign for Labour Party Democracy. She was elected on a promise to “reject austerity as a solution to the economic crisis.” Apparently, “instead of cuts, we will work for a Labour government committed to a plan for public investment.” Spend, spend, spend!

Joining Ken on NEC will be Ellie Reeves, the sister of Rachel Reeves MP and partner of John Cryer MP. She was endorsed by Unite, Tom Watson and his on/off young girlfriend, Stephanie Peacock. Who you know, not what you know…

Ellie will be in good company. Christine Shawcroft describes herself as being on the “extreme left of the Labour Party”, a CND supporting fan of Hugo Chavez and former Tower Hamlets councillor.  Ann Black said before the ballot “there are further challenges as the economy crawls out of recession. First, Labour needs a …positive alternative to Osborne’s endless austerity”. At least she publishes decent minutes of the meetings.

There is no doubt who the winner is. One seasoned Labour insider tells Guido:

“The NEC results are a shift to the Left with Grassroots Alliance (Left) candidates winning 4 out of the 6 slots. Popular young leftie Kate Osamor replaced the veteran old Right Peter Wheeler while right-wingers Akehurst, Nosegbe and Peel also lost out. The ambitious Johanna Baxter won as an independent and is well placed  to continue her hunt for a seat.”

A further purge of the Blairites at every level of the party.

Given how dismally Labour are represented in the South East, its is rather ironic that all of the CLP representatives live there. As LabourList notes: “only one candidate (Jim McMahon, the leader of Oldham Council and the Labour LGA Group) lives outside London or the South.”  And he’s only there as a councillor.

Perhaps the least surprising result saw Ken Livingstone breaking yet another pledge. In 2012 he promised that the London Mayoral battle would be his ‘last election’. He topped the ballot. It’s pathological…

UPDATE: Just in case you think Guido is overstating the swing to the left, the neo-Bennite Left Futures blog says it represents “a 14% swing to the left from right-wing and independent candidates… It is the best result for the Left since the mid-1980s.” The 80s were when Labour was loony and in permanent opposition…

COURT 12

MR JUSTICE WARBY

Wednesday, 20th August 2014

At 2 o’clock

FOR JUDGMENT

TLJ14/0733 Tim Yeo MP v Times Newspapers Ltd

UPDATE:

High Court judgment: Tim Yeo MP v Times Newspapers Ltdhttp://t.co/jfKGZMjjIB

— Judicial Office (@JudiciaryUK) August 20, 2014

If Guido understands the ruling correctly, Tim Yeo has won the right to not have his libel claim held before a jury. Has Magna Carta not suffered enough?

Someone does not look too pleased about being back at work unexpectedly.

You would never have thought someone just enjoyed ten days in sunny Portugal…

“Are they more leadable? I don’t know, I think they probably are. The problem will come if we have, say, a 1974 situation or 1951 situation where Labour does not have a powerful majority…”

Classy.

The PM is on his way back to London to do nothing from his desk in Downing Street, rather than via his Blackberry.

Bad day for fishmongers of Cornwall.