Diane Abott, Leadership Contender

Diane Abbott, summed up in three easy steps:

The left-winger said all the other candidates were "policy wonks" and "men in their 40s who played football together".

Ms Abbott insisted: "That's too narrow a section of the party. We risk losing touch with women. We risk losing touch with where our supporters are.

"The other candidates would make good leaders of the Labour Party but they all look the same. We cannot be offering a slate of candidates who all look the same. The party is much more diverse than that."

So the reason why Abbot is running is not because she thinks that she is the best person of the job, but because the other contenders "all look the same" and she represents diversity. Hmmm...

But rest assured, it isn't the only reason. No, Abbott is flying the flag for socialists as well as women and ethnic minorites:

Cambridge graduate Ms Abbott, 57, who became Britain's first black woman MP in 1987, said she was running to make sure there was a "voice of the left" in the contest

Do we really need a voice of the left running? I can't ever remember a voice of the left saying anything worth hearing. Still, I guess I'm biased. Based on the fact that I find socialism abhorrent.

She rejected suggestions she had been damaged by sending her son to a fee-paying school.

Brilliant! Well done Diane. Do you want some champagne with your socialism?

So, let's sum up Abbott, shall we? She's running not because of she believes herself to be the most capable candidate, but because of her gender and her ethnicity. And she's a socialist, of course, but like so many other people of that inclination, she doesn't let her beliefs impact on her actions.

Hard to imagine that there could be a candidate out there who could make Balls or Burnham look like credible contenders, but you know what? I think Abbott might just have managed it.