Has Johnson really quit the race?

Unlike Ben Brogan, I don't seriously believe Alan Johnson plans to do a U-turn and come back into the Labour leadership race - but I have to say that his new campaign website launched today had me wondering a bit.....

Yesterday, Johnson made clear he would be backing Gordon Brown, describing the Chancellor as a "towering political figure" and praising his "gravitas, experience, and intellect."

Fair enough, but somebody should have told the person putting together the media section of his new website which seems to be slightly off-message in this respect.

It currently contains the following stories, all seemingly promoting the idea of Johnson as a candidate not for the deputy leadership, but as a rival to Gordon for the top job.

"Alan Johnson displayed his leadership credentials to the Labour Party conference yesterday when he announced plans to restore confidence in school exams and to help children in care." Greg Hurst, The Times

"When the backstabbing finally stops, could Alan Johnson be the man who delivers the fatal blow to Brown?" Rachel Cooke, The Observer

"For many Labour MPs he represents the perfect alternative to the Chancellor, being everything that Mr Brown is not." Anthony Browne, The Times

"Gordon Brown's enemies are pinning their hopes on Alan Johnson." 'Bagehot," The Economist.

November 13 Update: This was post was picked up over the weekend by both PoliticalBetting.com and The Daily, both of whom provide interesting angles on it. On balance I tend towards The Daily's verdict that it was an unintended hangover from Johnson's earlier plans to contest the leadership, rather than Mike's interpretation that AJ might re-enter the race at some stage.

Johnson wakes up and smells the coffee

Education Secretary Alan Johnson has now formally ruled himself out of contention for the Labour leadership and announced he is contesting only the deputy's post - not at the Press Gallery Lunch as speculated on The Daily but in an exclusive interview with the BBC. That will piss a few people off for a start.

I must confess to being surprised. I am after all on record as having said that Johnson would "do a Prescott" and stand for both posts, while making the deputy leadership his main target. I wasn't the only one who thought this though....

What really did for him I think was his poorly received speech at the Labour Conference. He must have realised at that point that he didn't really have the support in the party to mount a meaningful challenge.

His withdrawal and declaration of support for Gordon Brown could have one of two effects. It could demonstrate that the momentum behind Brown is now such that he is unstoppable, or alternatively it could concentrate minds in the "Anyone But Gordon" camp to the effect that either (but not both) of John Hutton or Alan Milburn now emerge as serious contenders.

My assessment of the situation is that, with more than half the Cabinet on his side and the opposition to him fragmenting, Brown is looking pretty unbeatable, but politics abhors a vacuum and if at any point Gordon is seen as in any way vulnerable, someone somewhere will step into it. Even a very reluctant David Miliband might be persuaded if the alternative is a Labour election defeat.

A few weeks back, I produced this breakdown of where the various Cabinet members stand on the issue, and I think it's now time for an update.

Cabinet members explicitly and publicly backing Gordon Brown for the leadership

John Prescott
Margaret Beckett
Peter Hain
David Miliband
Hilary Benn
Alan Johnson

Cabinet members who have not expressed a public preference but who are known allies of Mr Brown

Jack Straw
Alistair Darling
Douglas Alexander
Des Browne
Ruth Kelly
Stephen Timms

Cabinet members who are currently remaining neutral or who have expressed no known public or private preference

Tony Blair
Patricia Hewitt
Hilary Armstrong
Jacqui Smith
Valerie Amos

Cabinet members who, while not allies of Mr Brown, have signalled that they will not run against him for the leadership

John Reid
Hazel Blears

Cabinet members who have privately expressed doubts about Mr Brown and who could reliably be expected to support "Anyone but Gordon" - if such a candidate exists

John Hutton
Charles Falconer
Tessa Jowell

Incendiary devices

Okay, so Bonfire Night has been and gone, but I was heartened to come across this post today from the influential Labour blogger Kerron Cross, calling for a ban on the general sale of fireworks.

Says Kerron: "I don't really understand the arguments for keeping fireworks on sale to the public when you look at the nuisance, injuries and disruption they cause. I welcome the Government clamp down on sales but...we need to ban the general sale of these devices - they should only be used by trained professionals at properly organised events."

I couldn't agree more. Apart fom the noise nuisance of having fireworks going off up to a month either side of November 5, there is absolutely no need for them to be on general sale given the growth of organised events. I went to an absolutely marvellous one on Sunday night at Belper Town Football Club which had everything you need - a great bonfire, plenty of food and drink, and a stunning diplay set to the music of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.

Anyone in any doubt about the destruction fireworks can wreak in the wrong hands should read this horrific tale from the pages of the Blackpool Gazette.

This blog is a Mid-term Elections Free Zone

I have never really understood American politics. Never understood how an allegedly educated country could possibly elect as its president someone who failed to remember the names of other world leaders during a TV interview, and certainly never understood how someone who lied about never having had sexual relations with a White House intern could possibly be allowed to remain president after being found out.

I could go on. I don't understand, for instance, why people of a generally Christian worldview like myself tend to vote for centre-left parties in the UK, but invariably vote for the Republicans in the States.

So because I don't get American politics, and because I don't really want to take the trouble to try to get it, I am hereby declaring this blog a Mid-Term Elections Free Zone (a former editor of mine will appreciate the irony.)

For those of you who feel compelled to know more of what is going on over the other side of the pond, and what it might mean for us back home, I direct you to the BBC, to PoliticalBetting.com, and the good people at Blairwatch.