Some reflections on the Corbyn era, now that it draws finally to a close. Historians will puzzle over just how badly @UKLabour took leave of its senses in a period when the country desperately need a credible opposition. Let's think about some of the pivotal moments. 1/17

2/17 The five minutes of madness in the summer of 2015. The charity nominations from the likes of Margaret Beckett and Sadiq Khan. A warning that politicians must guard against extremism at all times - even when its ascendancy seems very unlikely.

3/17 The lacklustre performance by the other leadership candidates, who were admittedly thrown by Cameron's small overall majority. Yvette Cooper did start to take the fight to Corbyn at the end of the contest, but it was too little too late. There was complacency.

4/17 The pathetic response of the PLP to Corbyn's elevation. Rather than making it clear right from the outset that they would refuse to work with him, they retreated shellshocked. A proportion agreed to serve in his shadow cabinet. A huge mistake, which gave Jez credibility.

5/17 Failure to listen to Joe Haines - Harold Wilson's former press secretary - who recommended at the end of 2015 that there should be UDI and a breakaway. It would have cut Corbyn off in his tracks. A new leader of the PLP could have represented @UKLabour in Parliament.

6/17 Failure to remove Corbyn immediately over his disastrous performance in the #Brexit referendum. The man who said he supported the EU 7 or 7.5 out of 10. Having spent a career on the fringes of British politics supporting it 0 out of 10.

7/17 The botched coup in 2016. It was launched too late in the year and with the wrong candidate. Smith's laughable campaign portrayed the challenger as every bit as left wing as Corbyn. Jez was even offered some non-existent role as spiritual leader, were Smith to triumph.

8/17 The pathetic cowardice in response to Corbyn's surprisingly good showing in the 2017 general election. Rather than point out the obvious - that May's campaign imploded, people thought they could vote @UKLabour with impunity and Jez faced both ways on #Brexit - MPs crumbled.

9/17 Tom Watson's singalong to 'Oh, Jeremy Corbyn' at the 2017 conference. A desperate low from a man who constantly promised to defend the party's true values. He and the others who helped give credibility to Corbynism - Thornberry, Chakrabarti, Gardiner - were an embarrassment.

10/17 Corbyn should have been brought down over anti-semitism. So many MPs tweeting their concerns, their anger, their frustrations. And then *doing* precisely nothing out of fear of the activists and deselection.

11/17 @PeoplesMomentum has always been a party within a party. Its dubious raison d'etre was rarely challenged. As far as I'm aware, the only senior figure to call for it to be wound up was Alan Johnson. And that was after the debacle of the 2019 election defeat.

12/17 Far too much credibility was given to the senior figures around Corbyn. McDonnell was more plausible and could sound occasionally sensible in interviews - often substituting for the hapless Jezster. For this reason, far too many moderates chose to ignore his past.

13/17 The backroom staff. Milne, Murray, Murphy et al. Again, lots of frustration and anger expressed privately. Nothing done. Their influence was pervasive and disastrous.

14/17 After 2019, no real reflection. Platitudes to the membership, many of whom live in cloud cuckoo land. The sleepers from the 1980s. People who quit over Iraq and returned. Flotsam and jetsam attracted by Corbyn. The leadership candidates have tried to appease them.

15/17 If - as expected - Starmer wins tomorrow, let's hope he pursues the scorched earth policy that has been briefed off the record to journalists. The party desperately needs catharsis. But he has ostensibly promised to make nice with the hard left.

16/17 Many of Starmer's supporters told me that I should take no notice of his pronouncements during the campaign and promises to keep a lot of Corbyn's hard-left baggage. It was all to keep the members sweet. Tactical. But he also presented himself as the 'integrity' candidate.

17/17 Let's see how things work out. I am happy to give Starmer a chance. He must surely make at least some dent in the Tories' lead. But that lead is their largest while in office since the summer of 1982. And there are mountains for @uklabour to climb.