At lunchtime on Saturday, most Labour MPs will be sinking to a new depth of despair. The party will announce the results of a leadership challenge that was intended to either weaken or depose Jeremy Corbyn but will instead make him stronger than ever.

The race has been decided by a Labour Party now 70 per cent composed of people who signed up after last year’s general election, delighted with the direction of the Corbyn project and convinced that he’s going to win.

We have just witnessed something unprecedented in Western democracy: the takeover not just of a party’s leadership, but of its membership.