In an attempt to cause maximum damage to Gordon Brown and Labour’s election campaign, Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt have called for a leadership election by secret ballot with the undisguised objective of ousting the Prime Minister and assisting the opposition.

The Blairite faction has been unhappy ever since Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister and this latest move, only minutes after Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons, was timed to have maximum political effect.

It will be interesting to see in the months leading up to the General Election how many defections to the Liberal Democrats or to the Tories actually take place.  Such defections have been normal in the past and have affected all political parties and are usually timed to have maximum media effect and cause maximum damage.

Let’s see what happens.