It just goes to show how far out of touch political parties are.  It was clear when the Labour Party first started plotting against Blair that their choice of successor was never going to lead them to victory in an election.

It is astonishing to think that someone who has never actually won a truly competetive election (a safe Scottish seat doesn't really count) has managed to become Prime Minister.  His only constituency is the Party.

But now the Party is in a fix.  There's very little chance that changing leader now will give them any chance of winning the next election, so those with ambitions to become leader are unlikely to put themselves forward for what would be an all too brief appointment.  While on the other hand, any leader seems appealing to those MPs who are likely to lose their seats in the not too distant future.

Of course none of this would matter if they were just in Parliament to serve their constituents, rather than build a career.