THE race for the Labour leadership, following a disastrous general election for the party, has been an uninspiring affair, with none of the candidates lighting up the contest.

Indeed, the leadership election has simply served to underline the fact that the party lacks a real star capable of reversing Labour's fortunes. Chuka Umunna had the potential to excite but once he had stepped away from the starting line, we were left with a pretty mediocre field.

The trouble with races with mediocre fields is that they can throw up strange results and, according to a YouGov poll for The Times, it is the left-wing candidate Jeremy Corbyn who is in the lead.

If the last election and the Scottish referendum taught us anything, it is to be wary of polls which are taken well in advance of voting day. Nevertheless, Mr Corbyn's lead has caused a right old flap, with Tony Blair, no less, among those hammering out dire warnings about a lurch to the left.

Whatever else is said about Mr Blair, one thing he knows about is winning elections and he is right about Labour's prospects if it chooses to return to its traditional leftist platform. Labour will consign itself to a long period in the wilderness because history shows that it is the centre ground where elections are won.

It is worth asking the question: What result would David Cameron and George Osborne like to see most when the Labour leadership votes are cast?

It is a racing certainty that they would be rubbing their hands like a couple of quids-in gamblers if the runner on the far left came home first past the post.

Having got it so wrong with Ed Miliband, surely the Labour Party will come to its senses before it is too late.