Instead, Gordon Brown and his entourage headed north and turned the campaign around Every SNP statement and interview was challenged. Labour’s daily news conferences had clear messages each morning, which were pursued relentlessly for the rest of the day. In other words, Labour fought an election campaign with leading politicians who were genuinely committed to winning in Scotland and had a genuine passion for the Scottish Parliament. The subliminal message was clear: Labour cared about Scotland.The message conveyed in Wales was different.

The leadership gave the impression that victory was taken for granted, and its main priority was to impose a leader. In the European election campaign, the leadership had no clear message and no one especially keen to espouse the ill-defined cause Voters are not daft. Instinctively indifferent, they can pick up the signals when politicians appear indifferent too.So the challenge for the Labour leadership over the next 12 months is to show that it cares as passionately about London as it did in the elections in Scotland. This cause would not be helped by ditching Livingstone, who was, after all, the last person to lead an elected London authority and has been a London MP since 1987.

The fatal subliminal message of such a brutal act would be: “We don’t care so much about London, but we are bothered about who will give us least difficulty as mayor.” We shall be back on that familiar Welsh territory again.This means also that the leadership needs to reflect carefully on who it chooses to fight Livingstone. The Health Secretary, Frank Dobson, is favoured by some in Downing Street, although Blair has never discussed the issue with him There is a problem, though Dobson does not want the job. As for Mo Mowlam, she demonstrated her lack of enthusiasm by attending the book launch for Livingstone’s biography. This was hardly the aggressive opening act in a mayoral leadership contest.