There was a long thread on Political Betting about where Labour would be if Blair was still PM. I think we would be in a similar mess in the polls. But the difference would be that we would now be planning to elect a new leader. Blair could have absorbed the blame for Northern Rock, credit crunch and other "events" and taken it with him when he went. A new leader could have enjoyed a honeymoon that coincided with the next general election.

Start giggling now. There are 25 independent and wacky candidates who have decided it is a good use of their money to stand against Davis in Haltemprice and Howden.

Considering the week gone by, Tony Blair really did give an amazingly relaxed and confident performance at Saturday's National Policy Forum and a speech which directly challenged (as ever) those who think getting back to the grassroots can win the next election.

Speaking from Miami (Robin Gibb's views were not reported), Tony Blair urged the Labour Party not to abandon New Labour's agenda. He said New Labour's "ambition and compassion" could bring it a fourth general election victory and despite facing its most difficult time in government, the party was dominating the battle of ideas.

Without starting a standard discussion about balancing core values with reaching out to swing Middle England voters, how should we handle any change of terminology for a change of leader? Can we seriously be "New" Labour after 10 years in power? How do we ensure we are the party that represents change and improvement, not the embodiment of disastisfaction with the status quo? Can we Renew Labour, Renew Britain?