Maurice Golden is in fact the candidate for Central Ayrshire.

‘On a more partisan note, I hope they ignore my musings and the Labour party does carry on regardless and the underbelly of the Scottish Labour party is exposed to the full glare of the media.’ Quite so, Scotty. While it seems quite obvious that, in terms of the relevant legislation, resignations and/or criminal convictions should be on the cards, I can’t help but give in to my own partisan instincts on this one. It seems clear that there is a lot more bubbling under the surface and the prospect of a fatally wounded Labour leader struggling on, bereft of moral authority, public sympathy or the support of her backbenchers is simply in our interests in the context of the coming general election. Ian MacWhirter’s analysis in today’s Herald is bang on the money in noting that: “We know that all is not well in the Labour leader's inner circle, since this story has been driven by a series of damaging leaks from people with access to the most sensitive inside information. The Sunday Herald document, for example, could not have been widely circulated within Labour, but it found its way into the public domain. Someone somewhere harbours a very deep grudge against Alexander and is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to settle accounts.” In terms of the simple electoral calculation, the longer that situation can be prolonged the better. As other commentators above have rightly noted, while the SNP may be overall beneficiaries of a long-term bout of matricide, there are key constituencies where we are the accepted challengers to Labour which could, and I stress could, come into play as a result of this. The legal process will take its course, as it should, but a gradual attrition is what suits us best.

No point in trying to reason with him, Boy Blue; the closing line of his last post gives the game away. You’ll also notice he now merely claims that lack of progress in the polls demonstrates the absence of a ‘Cameron effect’ in Scotland, whereas his previous contention was that DC was in fact a ‘liability’ north of the border – a claim that he has conspicuously failed to substantiate. Amazing that someone would so obviously prefer to beat up their own side than discuss how we might best capitalise on the present circumstances.

“In fact, it is more likely that Dave is a liability in Scotland.” An assessment based upon what?

A succinct analysis. The thing that’s most astonishing is the dreadfully poor media handling of the matter on the part of the Scottish Labour machine. While the coincidence of this blowing up at the same time as the Abrahams scandal was always being to afford it significance disproportionate to the sum of money involved, you can’t help but feel that it could have been closed down with a simple admission and apology at the very start. Even if it proved not to be possible to close it down completely, at the very least the accusations (now proven) of lying both on her own part and on the part of members of her campaign team, which are what has really fuelled the media firestorm, would have been avoided. It's not the crime that gets you, it's the cover-up. As Murdo says the question is how long the line can be held, but I am bound to say that - much as the political demise of yet another Scottish Labour leader would be welcome - how much more welcome would it be for her to manage to cling on, irreparably damaged.

Anon, Who would your choice be?