In 1983 Neil Kinnock’s tumble into the sea on Brighton beach was seen as a metaphor for his slim chances of ever becoming prime minister. As Labour delegates gather in the city today for the start of their annual conference, they might look back fondly on Lord Kinnock’s tenure as leader of the opposition. Even at his lowest ebb, 27 per cent of the electorate thought that he was doing a good job and 61 per cent a bad one. A net favourability ranking of -34 is a fine effort compared with the numbers for Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn has just achieved a record low score in the Ipsos Mori rankings of -60, made up of 76 per cent of people who think that