John Rentoul thinks that private poll was leaked by Liz Kendall
In today’s Independent on Sunday, John Rentoul writes
I fear that the story of a private poll that put Corbyn in the lead was a desperate ploy by the Liz Kendall campaign. My view is that Kendall is easily the best candidate, and the only one who has a chance of winning the next election for Labour without relying on the Conservatives to fall apart. But I accept that her campaign, after its flying start, has not gone well.
She was responsible for the only memorable line of the campaign so far, her reflex retort when Andy Burnham said, “The party comes first, always†– “No, the country comes first.†But otherwise she has failed to hit the strong lines she needs.
She has in my view been admirably reckless in offending the easily offended activists who think the only thing wrong with Ed Miliband was that he was a neo-liberal sellout. But that is not how you win internal elections in the Labour Party.
Assuming John Rentoul’s observations are accurate, on one level, the leak has worked, since that poll was leaked, people have been focussing on what electing Jeremy Corbyn would mean for the Labour party. This has  led to the formation of the the stop Jeremy campaign. Last night a few MPs who nominated Corbyn are now expressing regret for nominating him whilst others are already planning to remove Corbyn were he to be elected leader.
Leaked private polls are a lot like bikinis, what they show is certainly eye catching but what they hide is vital and much more important. The fact the leak didn’t say was Kendall on course to win or best placed to stop Corbyn, something which would have given her campaign some momentum displays Kendall’s weakness in the race.
That doesn’t inspire confidence in her campaign’s tactics and strategy, so you should be laying her, her odds are plummeting, just look at the trend on the Betfair, especially after the poll was leaked, in the tweet below.
Betfair exchange trend chart showing Kendall's odds as % age chance of winning the Labour leadership pic.twitter.com/EpYMNGxEfh
— TSE (@TSEofPB) July 19, 2015
Yvette Cooper is probably now best placed to win the Labour leadership election, she already has the advantages of not being being Ed Miliband with a Scouse accent, nor is she the Blairite cuckoo in the nest that seems to annoy so many Labour activists, if she can frame herself as the best stop Corbyn candidate then she should win.