UK's Labour Party may get a leader it doesn't want

SEVERAL months ago, I wrote a column confidently predicting the outcome of the UK election in May. Problems for the Labour Party in Scotland and problems for the Liberal Democrat Party in England, but no overall majority for anyone. The details were right but the result was wrong, which shows that I should never have been an accountant. Labour was annihilated in Scotland and the Liberal Democrats suffered the same fate in England. This combination allowed the Conservatives to secure a majority in their own right and to rule for the new set term of five years.

The most significant fallout has been in the leadership of the Labour Party. Ed Miliband resigned and a new election was called to succeed him. This election has begun. However, the rules have changed in that the new leader will be voted in by party members, rather than just by sitting MPs. Very democratic.

Four people received the necessary nominations - two were obvious suspects, one was largely unknown and the fourth is Jeremy Corbyn. All polls suggest that he will romp to victory with a lot more than half of the votes - again very democratic.