There is an instructive piece by Lynne Featherstone on her experience of the Liberal Democrat party dislodging a leader, contrasting it with the efforts of Hewitt and Hoon yesterday (not to mention James Purnell's resignation last year, which was presumably also intended to trigger a leadership contest).
One other contrast could be mentioned: the fact that Charles was succeeded by Ming Campbell, a man respected throughout the party, even by those who disagreed with some of his views. It is hard to see an obvious successor to Gordon Brown who is not going to open up the splits which clearly exist in the Labour party.
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In spite of the BBC's talking up of the mini-rebellion, Hoon himself has admitted today that it had been a failure and Gordon Brown is sailing on regardless. It wasn't so much a "night of the long knives" as an "afternoon of the short hatpins".
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