Chris

Labour has been infiltrated by large numbers of hard-left activists who have an unweighted vote in the choice of leadership thanks to idiotic changes made to the selection system by a certain Mr E Miliband. There is no point in the PLP trying to unseat him in a coup, because the constituency that selected him is still there.

The Tories already found out all this to their cost, when Iain Duncan Smith was elected on the strength of his popularity amongst the broader membership, in spite of the reservations of the party's MPs. A party's grass roots does not reflect the wider electorate. The leader must primarily attract the support of the Parliamentary party, because the Parliamentary party is the only vehicle by which laws might be made and the country might be governed. And for the parliamentary party to be elected, its leader must have appeal beyond the core vote (and most certainly beyond the activist base, which is even narrower). Also, the Parliamentary party consists of of politicians, who are usually rather better at understanding how to appeal to the masses. They have to be, because their own jobs depend on it.