John McDonnell is taking back control

Over the past few weeks, rumours have swirled in Westminster that the Labour party has acquired a new leader — that John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has almost completed a long, stealthy campaign having stolen more and more power from his beleaguered and exhausted boss. While there has been no announcement, plenty in the party believe that there certainly has been regime change: Corbyn in office, but McDonnell in power.

While Corbyn has always seemed like an eccentric grandad who potters about in his allotment, there is something steely and not altogether comforting about McDonnell. Even though he gives broadcast interviews from his sitting room, which looks like the backdrop to a Werther’s Original ad, and even though his soft and sorrowful voice makes him sound like an uncle giving the eulogy at the funeral of a much-loved family pet, McDonnell can’t quite hide a faint air of menace. When he recently mused about what might happen ‘If Jeremy got hit by the No.