The Not Very Red Queen

What is it about James Purnell that makes one think of lines and characters from Lewis Carroll? Anyway, Humpty Dumpty springs to mind when one reads either this FT leader:

"His departure is part of a wider trend. Older big-hitters on the right of the party, such as Alan Milburn, the former health secretary, and John Hutton, the former defence secretary, are also retiring. There will soon be a dearth of moderate firepower within the parliamentary Labour party."

Or this, by, of all people, Matthew Parris:

"James Purnell’s exit makes a point about more than the abject state of his own party. It asks a question about what contribution a brave, sharp-minded, public-spirited and undoctrinaire individual can hope to make in modern British politics, from inside the tent. Answering it for himself, Mr Purnell has just gone outside. He may be some time."

Big hitters? Moderate? Fire power? Brave? Sharp-minded? Public-spirited? Undoctrinaire? There could not be better expressions of everything that Purnell is not. Like, in fact, the preposterous Milburn, the almost completely unknown Hutton, and, of course, the template for them all, including David Cameron. And including Stephen Twigg, bearing into the next Parliament the seed of James Purnell, the presence of which within him is the only reason why he was ever given the seat of Liverpool West Derby. Unless, of course, the voters there show some self-respect. Here's to that.