Ivor, you haven't even mentioned the revelations in Andrew Rawnsleys book! And Margaret Thatcher ran her Cabinet ( and the country) by consensus, did she? Its well known that Gordon is a bit of a bruiser if not in the John Prescott vein, so there's nothing really new here. I'd like to find anyone in a top job who isn't - surely goes with the territory.

Yes the whole thing was surreal yesterday and to be honest from any perspective ( apart from Gordons no doubt) very funny to sit and watch a front door in Rochdale for 45 minutes or so .It was a marketing disaster for Gordon but personally I think he would have been better off not apologising so much afterwards. I doubt if it will do him much harm at this stage as those people who reacted badly to it probably wouldn;t have voted Labour anyway. I'd like to have heard what he said when he realised the mike was still on but thats probably not suitable for broadcast!

Gillian Duffy now appears to be engaging PR firms to represent her. No doubt she'll make some dosh out of this business. Not a bad outcome for her really.

Looking forward to seeing both Piglet and Ivor in action this evening, it should be an interesting discussion!