With a first leader’s speech the point is to avoid the elephant traps, raise the right questions and put down markets. Ed Miliband avoided the mistakes, the right answers will be harder. More importantly he put clear purple water between himself and his former boss.

Labour’s electoral college failed this time – but that’s not Ed Miliband’s fault – it’s a reflection of the weakness of Labour and the failure of the contest to inspire beyond the converted.

At the top of our road there was a fish and chip van. It was always busy. The man who ran the van clearly lived on the product.

The nonesense of a trite and poorly made ‘docurama’ aside, whoever wins later today, the future relationship between the Miliband brothers is make or break stuff for Labour.

Whether Ed Miliband has much evidence behind his bullish statement, it doesn’t matter, it can’t hurt him to say it, but it exposes a flaw in what is otherwise a good system of electing a leader.

Woolly-minded web surveys aside, when there is an election I have to vote for the best candidate – even if one would have preferred others to stand. The questionnaires are still fun though.

After a long campaign a new front runner has emerged in Labour’s leadership contest.

(and, for those who do, five sources of great bread flour) The smell of freshly baked bread is THE great smell of home – or it should be. But it’s a distant memory for most since, like many things in the aftermath of post-war austerity, the emergence of convenience shopping and commercial bread slicing the [...]

Was I the only person excited by the final of a tournament, at times of iffy entertainment but a credit to its hosts throughout.

It’s all very well having more curry houses per square mile than most other towns, but quality is just as important as quantity, and for that you need to travel.