With the coup against him shelved, his party is assessing the damage. As one senior figure says, “We have to prevent an election campaign in which the Tories say: Labour doesn’t want Ed Miliband, so why should the country choose him?” In the fall-out, the party has divided itself once more into Old and New Labour, although those definitions have been rewritten. The old guard, who have experienced adversity, are drawn from across the party. Ironically, many of those most helpful to Mr Miliband in his hour of need are Blairites whose creed he has scorned.