Watch Chris and Nick do what Gordon never had to

One thing that having contested leadership elections means, Parliamentary Labour Party members please note, is that the rivals get invited onto Question Time for a special leadership debate.

This can be a defining moment of a campaign and both Huhne and Clegg will have been training hard to ensure that they come over best.

For Huhne, the betting outsider and the man who has still not been forgiven by the party establishment for running against Ming last time, this could be his best chance. He needs to do very well this evening.

Clegg, who has been reported to have been less sure-footed in the hustings, simply has to ensure that the so-called better presentation skills that his supporters say he possesses, show through clearly.

There’s been a lot of edge between the two men during the campaign and there might just be fireworks.

The one thing that tonight will probably show is that neither of the contenders is as good as Vince Cable who has been doing a brilliant job in the acting slot.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a QT debate like this at the general election? Alas Brown is not going to agree – he didn’t get where he is today taking such risks.

Thank you to all those who contributed to last night’s thread about my future plans. I’ve got a number of thoughts which we’ll return to in the New Year.

Mike Smithson