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Parliamentary summer recess usually means one thing: rubbish news. Sport sometimes fills the gaps but politics around the world is wholeheartedly ignored whilst the summer sun distracts Fleet Street from hardcore hacking. Picnics, Chelsea Flower Show, Henley Royal Regatta and the like steal the eye of analysis from hot topics such as Zimbabwe and the new government of Nepal. Instead, on 22 July, the lack of British political debate takes all of the steam out of reporting.

So, in true silly season style, we are going to speculate on what the bookies say. Yvette Cooper, the MP for Castleford and Pontefract is 16-1 to be next leader of the Labour party according to Paddy Power. Her husband, Ed Balls, is 6-1. My father’s family mostly live in Yvette’s constituency and it was with interest that I read her advert for an assistant. Castleford and Pontefract is an extremely safe seat for a Labour MP – being as it is, an ex-mining area. The next most likely contender would be a BNP candidate.

Another contender for the Labour leadership is Hilary Benn. I shadowed Hilary one day in 2006 in his capacity as Minister for International Development. I was impressed by his ambition and familiarity with Jack Straw. He was certainly a party man, unlike Harold Best – a stolid backbencher, who accompanied my politics class around Westminster before his sad passing away a few years later. Harold was more interested in the historic fight for justice – showing us the plaques to suffragettes and the marks left on Thatcher’s statue by protesters.

If you fancy forgetting about the debate and having a flutter on the leadership hopefuls, go to Paddy Power politics. Otherwise, we will keep you fully up to date with the all-essential holiday plans of the cabinet!