When do you think Labour will next win a general election. And who do you think will be leading the party ?

No idea on either. The British electorate likes a change from time to time, and after 10 years of Conservative rule, it might want one in 2020. But it could decide "better the devil you know" if it doesn't like what it sees from Labour, and vote Conservative yet again.

That pretty much describes the 1980s, when despite the extreme hate towards her, Margaret Thatcher never lost a general election, at least partly because even Labour supporters looked at their party going virtually communist and thought it would be even worse than her. Sir Gerald Kaufman MP described Labour's 1983 general election manifesto as "the longest suicide note in history".and it has to be said, read it and you see what he meant. Looking back at Neil Kinnock's leader's speech to the party conference in 1985, I see a man in real passionate pain... Labour had done so much for him as an ordinary Welsh kid, of course he wants others to have those opportunities, the Militant loony left are throwing it all away... and he ranted at them for destroying the party he loves. Startling to see a party leader getting mad at his own party but he had good reasons. Labour didn't get elected again until under Blair, it had become something totally different. (And after 18 years of Conservative rule, the Conservatives were looking tired and running out of ideas.)

My best guess on saying anything definite is that it is now well established that if Labour comes up with an expensive policy, the first question is "how are you going to pay for it?" Which suggests to me that it's not going to win an election with Corbyn as leader. He's too much of an old-school socialist such as what Labour was in the 1970s, and anyone old enough to remember then (me for a start - I was at school at the time) is going to jib a bit at having those times back.

So I suggest waiting a couple of days for more of a clue. The special party conference to announce the result of the leadership election is on Saturday, so watch the news! A lot of the answer to this question could depend on it.

I hope not