So now we have Andy Burnham saying what a clever chap Jeremy Corbyn is!  He praises him for energising the Labour electorate and bringing young people into politics!  No doubt this eel-like wriggling is intended not to win, because it probably is too late, but to make sure he gets to be in a position of influence in a Corbyn-led party.  And why would he do that?  Well, there is talk of a campaign to unseat Jeremy Corbyn if he were to win, and that will be something to do with it.  However I think there is something else;  readers of my blog may recall that I forecast a general election not in 2020, when it is due, but in 2017.  I believe that the Conservative government is less secure than its majority might suggest, and will become even less so with a referendum on whether we stay in, or leave, the EU.  Those Conservatives on the right of the party, and in the anti-European camp, will become increasing fractious and flex their muscles by voting down some policies.  David Cameron will risk going to the country.

I think Andy Burnham may well have an eye on leading the labour party into that election, whoever is leader at the end of September 2015.  I also think he wants to see what happens in Scotland, where a new Labour leader will be fighting the Scottish Parliamentary election in 2016.

Slippery, or what?