So we're talking not long after the end of Jess Phillips's abortive campaign, which consisted of virtually nothing on policy, an article in The Guardian in which she declared herself to be unfit for purpose and not a single CLP nomination.

What did you make of her campaign and what do you think it tells us about the right of the party and its supporters in the media?

And why do you think it is

that so many journalists viewed Phillips as this panacea to Labour's electoral problems?

Well, she was popular in media because she spent four years very loudly shitting on the Labour

leadership and the party membership as well. I think it was obvious pretty quickly that most

of the Labour right wasn't going to do any

work for Jess Phillips because most of them have worked out that the best route they have to

retaking the party for themselves, probably in the medium term, is to do so through a kind of soft left

interregnum leadership. And that's why I think they've rallied to Stama. Another thing about

Phillips is she appoints some really

hopeless people to run the campaign. It was like West Streeting, Will Straw, Blair McDougal,

a three that's bring to mind. These are people who are very good at lecturing the left,

at length about its failures, but they themselves seem to have carte blanche to just fuck up

continually, and yet people still seek them out for strategic advice, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I mean, I would add that, you know, soft soap interviews on daytime TV and fawning column inches in the Murdoch press

just don't make good preparation for a Labour leadership contest.

Because when she was finally subjected to a bit of critical scrutiny at the hustings, she fell apart.

She wasn't equal to it.

If you'd like to hear the rest of this episode of PTO Extra, please consider becoming

a $5 supporter on Patreon.

You'll also get access to extended versions of all regular PTO shows.

...