Kelly not out of woods yet

Ruth Kelly appears to have survived the calls for her to quit over the sex offenders in schools row - but now she faces an even bigger challenge.

And if she fails to win backbench support for Tony Blair's education reforms, it won't just be her job that's on the line....

You can read more on this in my latest column. Alternatvely, if you want to hear the podcast version, you can find it here.

Doubtless Ms Kelly will be grateful for this rather more supportive piece from Andrew Rawnsley in this week's Observer.

Blair-Brown handover deal back on?

BBC pol ed Nick Robinson speculates in his blog that Blair and Brown may have agreed a date for the long-awaited handover.

I agree, and I'm going to stick my neck out and say the date they've agreed is May 2, 2007 - the 10th anniversary of Mr Blair's coming to power.

I've said this before of course - most recently in this column published in the Newcastle Journal and Lincolnshire Echo last October.

But to my mind it's a fair compromise between TB's desire for a "full third term" and GB's need to get stuck into Cameron at the despatch box.

Oaten quits - now will he back Huhne?

Mark Oaten has quit the Lib Dem leadership race after an apparent botched attempt to win Charles Kennedy's endorsement.

This leaves Chris Huhne as the only candidate with any credentials either as a moderniser or an economic liberal.

Will Oaten back him though? If ideological closeness has anything to do with it, he surely will, but this contest has always had more to do with personal rivalry than ideology.

If the old adage about "young cardinals electing old Popes," holds true, expect to see him joining Ming Campbell's campaign in the near future.

Jan 23 update: Apparently I was right about him not backing Huhne but wrong about him backing Ming - he was in fact planning to back Simon Hughes. I doubt if Hughes will want his support now though....

Neil solves Asian babe mystery

This image of Andrew Neil canoodling an "Asian babe" has become one of the most famous in British journalism. Neil has now spoken out for the first time about the picture and revealed that the lady in question was in fact an American-born make-up artist. You can read the full interview in this week's Press Gazette.

English Question back on the agenda

Gordon Brown's recent speech on Britishness demonstrates his determination to put the constitutional reform agenda firmly at the heart of a fourth term Labour Government.

It has generated predictable cynicism about his motives - for instance this leader in the Daily Telegraph.

Others can't forgive Brown for being a Scottish MP who continues to have a say over English affairs - as witness this lively discussion on the Campaign for an English Parliament newsblog.

For my part, I reckon Brown is sincere in regarding the current half-baked constitutional settlement as a mess and in wanting to do something about it.

Either way, what is certain is that the English devolution issue is now here to stay.

In the longer-term, the only question is who is going to be first to back an English Parliament - Brown, David Cameron - or the new Lib Dem leader?

Odds slashed on "Chris Who?"

In the 48 hours since Chris Huhne was tipped by this blog (and the Daily Telegraph) as the next Lib Dem leader, his odds have come in from 300-1 to 6-1, according to the Political Betting site.

I'm not a betting man myself, so I didn't take advantage - but it's good to see Chris emerge as a genuine contender.

Ming Campbell's interview in today's Grauniad was interesting in that he is clearly tacking to the left to counter the Simon Hughes threat, but Chris Huhne doesn't really need to play this self-defeating left-right game.

As someone with strong social justice and environmental credentials as well as economic credibility I genuinely feel he could be the man to pull this divided party together. Here's a link to his campaign website.