A cruel joke is doing the rounds to the effect that, since the law permits meetings of up to two people, this week’s Labour leadership contest can go ahead. The joke works because the People’s Party has faded from the people’s consciousness. Actually, Labour has around half a million members, roughly as many as all the other parties put together. But, at a time like this, even some of those half-million must be struggling to summon much interest in who wins.

Even before the Covid-19 outbreak, the next Labour leader would have had his work cut out (it looks like being a he). Labour has just suffered its worst defeat since 1935. Boris Johnson has built a big tent – a cavernous marquee stretching from Kensington to Bishop Auckland. Labour’s new leader was going to get at most two weeks to make an impression.

Now, he won’t even get that. Voters often swing Right in a national crisis, but this particular crisis has created a particular challenge for the Left. It has pushed borrowing to a level that even Jeremy Corbyn never countenanced. This leaves Labour little room. And even if it somehow comes up with a credible alternative, few will be watching.