The PLP have spoken. The entire shadow cabinet will remain elected. Whoever is celebrating in Manchester on the 25 September will wake up to the reality of leadership and little control over who makes their front bench team.
Talk of who’ll get what job has begun. Senior MPs are canvassing support to make sure they get in to the shoot out for the top roles. With some of the big beasts ruling themselves out it’s all to play for. The big winners this week were the Whip’s office. If their hype is to be believed, there will still be a Mr Brown at the very heart of the party.
It was the week that Ed B played the drums, Ed M led by a nose, Andy sent out a mail shot, David won the support of an east ender and a deep spacer, and Diane, well, has anyone seen Diane?
In case you missed them, here are Uncut’s best read pieces of the last seven days:
The hacking-gate heroes: four men in search of a scandal
Ed Balls may be winning the economic argument – but he could still be wrong, argues Anthony Painter
Lets not get carried away with the Coulson affair says Dan Hodges
We lost the 2010 election during Blair’s watch, as well as Brown’s, says Michael Dugher
Rachel Reeves on the government’s chaotic and contradictory economic policy
Big business, bad bankers and hard times for Northern Ireland, by Peter Johnson
Jonathan Todd on the challenge for the new shadow chancellor