Gilmore has the skills and qualities to put Labour back on track

THERE was a palpable air of disappointment among the media commentators I spoke and listened to over the weekend. Labour wasn’t going to beat itself up over a leadership election.

You could almost hear the unspoken reaction. “What? But Labour always has a right good row in these situations. There’s always blood on the floor, always arguments to write about. And this time they’re going to pick a leader without any sort of row at all? It’s just not fair.”

I’m exaggerating slightly, of course. I come from an era when Labour was perfectly capable of tearing itself apart in search of its own soul. As a former party employee, I can remember weekend conferences at which I found myself wondering whether I’d have an organisation to work for by Sunday night.