The next leader needs vision if Labour is to be more than a protest party

Editorial: To win again, and even to provide effective opposition, new ideas are needed from climate to AI

Starmer is the favourite to take over from Corbyn (Getty)

If you have a vote in the Labour leadership election, The Independent will refrain from advising you how to cast it. We can say, however, that we think it is vitally important for the health of our democracy, and for the prospects of good government, that we have an effective opposition.

We would observe that none of the candidates has said much about what they would change about the legacy they inherit from Jeremy Corbyn, in the smoking ruins of the party’s worst defeat since 1935.

We record, with some surprise, that Sir Keir Starmer has a commanding lead in nominations and in polls of party members, and looks likely to win. Something has certainly changed since the Momentum wave delivered Mr Corbyn the leadership, and his faction seemed to have an iron grip on the apparatus of the party.