LBC and Iain Dale hosted a very energetic Labour leadership debate.

First let me start by congratulating both for hosting the best Labour Party leadership debate. After weeks of bland predictable hustings, finally last night LBC and Iain Dale put on a very engaging debate. It was clever to allow listeners call in and directly ask their questions. Despite some candidates slight resistance to opening up, listeners’ questions livened the discussion because they were the question the public liked to ask.

Either way after the many hustings in as many weeks since this leadership contest began; it is now clear why Jeremy Corbyn is ahead by 17%. It is even clearer why Tony Blair and his followers are very concerned. And they should be because at this rate Corbyn who is not the darling of the Blairites is on his way to becoming the next leader of the Labour Party. It is also very clear why they don’t want him to lead their party. The man makes Ed Miliband looks like a right-winger. But don’t get me wrong, he is not popular because of his politics. Of course to some it’s his politics, but most people like him for the same reasons many don’t care about Nigel Farage’s or Nicola Sturgeon’s politics yet admire them. Besides being new and different, like the other two, Corbyn comes across as frank, unrehearsed and able to speak human. Which unfortunately for Labour none of the other three have a clue how to do.

God knows Iain Dale tried, more than once, to bring the other three candidates out of their shells, but did not succeed. Even when he nudged them, and he did it more than once, they just could not be themselves. Or did they? Could it be that after years of not being yourself ‘not being yourself’ becomes who you are?

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

After 90 minutes of a very engaging debate – questions came from the presenter, the listeners and even the contestants had the chance to question each other. I came away thinking; Yvette Cooper will never give a straight answer because she is always on the fence and don’t how to take a side. Andy Burnham is everything to everyone – but I have a great deal of respect for him for wanting to unite his party and not refusing to serve in a Corbyn administration – but still he’s everything to everyone. As for Liz ‘I am in it to win it’ Kendell, I feel she is just too green and hugely inexperienced to lead anything let alone Her Majesty’s Opposition. But this contest will help put her in the forefront of peoples’ mind and if she doesn’t make a big mistake, it will be good practice for future contests

In my opinion Iain telling Jeremy Corbyn Chukka Umunna said he won’t serve in a Corbyn Shadow Cabinet though cheeky it was a little mean. But it showed Corbyn’s maturity and mettle – age alone makes this man very seasoned and his attitude and calmness gives him a certain gravities the other candidates don’t yet possess.

I know many (mostly the media) say Corbyn is the Conservatives’ preferred candidate because he will put Labour out of office for a generation. First we don’t for sure know that. After all it’s the same media and polls that a few months ago, said the Conservatives will not win outright, so I’ll take what they say with a pinch of salt. But what we know for sure is a Corbyn win will un- blur the lines between the two parties. A Jeremy Corbyn leadership will be as red as Moscow’s Red Square and as left- wing as China before the Berlin Wall came down.

Secondly, why did Labour open their leadership election to the public? How is that fair or democratic to their membership? Didn’t they think some people might register just to tip the election one way or the other? Who knows, maybe they subconsciously wanted to sabotage their own chances?