Will Lord Mandelson leave the Lords and be a candidate for the Commons at the next general election? In truth, I have no idea. His dominance in the Lords over all comers makes it understandable that the House in which most major events in politics happen would like to have him. And it is understandable some would like to see him back in the Commons.
But there are a number of more important things for Labour to be thinking about before we get to this point. The message of the polls and the recent Norwich by-election is that we have to change, if we want to escape the fatalism that grips the party. And if we do change, the Tories are vulnerable.
The current opinion polling over the last month or so produces a result of Tories 40 per cent, Labour 25 per cent and Liberal Democrats 19 per cent. A year ago the Tories were on 45 per cent and we were on 26 per cent. So we remain dismally unpopular – but doubts grow about the Tories.
These figures match the mood in the country. People are fed up and impatient with what they perceive to be a disconnected government, so they are thinking they might as well try the alternative, although it looks rather uninviting.
But if we are beaten, then so are the people who depend on us: the poorest in our society, and those who seek a progressive alternative to the stifling conservatism of David Cameron.
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