The exodus of MPs leaving the sinking ship continues less of a pace and more of a blind panic. Party officials have confirmed this column’s prediction of some weeks ago that the summer recess will see more than 50 vacancies arising in Labour seats. But it gets worse. According to party insiders, up to 120 Labour MPs are expected to announce by early in the new year that they are bailing out. They are by no means exclusively those who have served a long and honourable time at Westminster and are approaching retirement age. Indeed, the young bloods who might usually be found scrabbling at the bottom of the government promotional ladder are underlining the mood at Westminster that the game’s up, with at least a dozen vacancies among the ranks of parliamentary private secretaries, the once-coveted first rung on the ladder to ministerial power.
