His first PMQs, Livingstone’s trawl for second pereferences in Tower Hamlets are just two of ‘em.

But by a country mile, the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election is THE first big challenge.

The electoral court ruled they were false statements but talk to any politician and they’ll take a sharp intake of breath and tell you sotto voce how close they’ve sailed to the wind with campaign literature. But that’s another blog.

Phil, who’s been a loyal party activist all his life and given so much, should at least be allowed his chance to apply for a judicial review, though it was quite clear last night from Harriet’s statement, there was no way back for him.

But he should be allowed to go on his own terms. That’s the very least Labour owes him.

The challenge is now to find the best candidate to keep the seat.

Come Monday, I reckon we’ll see the NEC’s Parliamentary Panel meet or speak by phone to set the timetable. I’m sure Ed will want to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

That means setting up a By-Election panel to run the selection. CVs will be submitted directly to the panel – not the CLP – and a longslist drawn up.

I really hope the By-Election Panel allows Oldham East and Saddleworth CLP a significant say in this process.

From past experience, it’s really important to get local input and buy-in otherwise the grumbling stage left and shouts of ‘stitch-up’ become increasigly loud as the campaign goes on.

Then the longlisted candidates will appear before the panel.

Ah. The panel.

Imagine Dragon’s Den for politicos! I was interviewed by the similar Special Selections Panel for Weaver Vale and boarded by Nick Brown and Tom Watson.

They ask what the most important local issues are, how you’d run your campaign and then – at Colomboesque (“Oh. Just one last thing”) weadle out your views on national issues and party loyalty. ‘Would you go against the whip?’ ‘Is there anything that you’ve done that would embarrass the party,” “Where do you stand on Afghanistan?”

But the By-Election Panel will probe much, much deeper – into the candidate’s personal background and history. Past statements, previous political standpoints – anything that could cause problems in the white heat of an election played out in the national media spotlight will be picked over and challenged.

It requires a special kind of person to cope with that level of scrutiny.

This weekend, potential candidates will be thinking long and hard about whether they should go for it. Handily, it’s the North West Labour Conference in Southport. Expect people to be taking soundings and making plans there.

One candidate’s already declared. Councillor Paul Cotterill – the Bickerstaffe Record’s blogger – seems a decent independent minded candidate and definitely worth longlisting. All  the best to him.

I know it’s not wise to be seen to be influening local selections. I’m sure Oldham East and Saddleworth CLP will still feel very raw and angry with the judgement and feel a deserved loyalty towards Phil.

The LAST thing they’ll want to feel is someone’s being parachuted in. I hope that’s respected. You’ll need someone local to the North West.

So I’d respectfully like to suggest someone who I think would be ideal.

I met her during the Prescott Express marginal seat tour and was bowled over by her intelligence, campaigning and passion.  She also seemed qutie normal, level-headed and self-deprecative – good things to have in any candidate.

Her name’s Maryam Khan and was chosen as PPC for Bury North after David Chaytor had to stand down over expenses claims.

She also had a good young team of North West Young Labour activitists running her campaign. There was definitely a buzz around her – the campaign slogan was the almost-inevitable-but-still-very-funny ‘Yes We Khan.’ She did very well to stem the swing to just 5% considering the toxic nature of expenses and the fact she was chosen as the last minute replacement.

This was her campaign video.

Mind you, Manchester Withington PPC Lucy Powell would also be very good too, though I understand neither her nor Maryam have indicated they’re going for it. Expect a tsunami of CVs when the selection starts.

But as I said, it’s down to the panel and the members to decide.

And hopefully I’ve not been the kiss of death for Paul, Maryam or Lucy!

Well Tippex are half way there on hits – 10 million since the end of August with their Shoot The Bear ad.

Why? The call and response is very short – just type in how you want it to end – it’s very funny and the execution is superb. That of the ad of course, not the bear.

But I don’t want to give it away so take a look for yourself. It’s a real game changer.

It was made by French agency Buzzman whose credo, purloined from Bob Thacker, senior VP-marketing and advertising at OfficeMax, is pretty damn cool.

“The secret is respecting the consumer. You are interrupting their life. All advertising is unwanted, so if you’re going to crash the party, bring some champagne with you.”

Hattip to my old Geronimo colleague Ed Callow who’s got a great blog in The Buzzplan

VERY early start today. Went to conference centre to see the old man make his debut as Daybreak’s roving reporter at conference.

In his two-way with Adrian and Christine he answered about what next for David Miliband.

Then after a quick rest it was back in the conference hall to see DM’s speech. Who’d a thought a foreign affairs Q&A would start with a remarkable standing ovation.

But I think the media really missed the big message here. Just blogged about it over at Labour Uncut

But just been watching our new leader on Marr.

Very telling that Ed was continuing to reach out to a lot of people, just as he did as he toured the receptions last night.

But for many, last night belonged to David.

He showed an enormous amount of courage and class to walk round the reception in Ed’s wake.

Expect David’s speech will bring the house down. He could read the Manchester Yellow Pages and people will be in tears.

Having seen three deputy leadership campaigns up close, I know all too well how hard it is to keep smiling when you’ve lost.

And I’ll be smiling again today after the Treasurer vote.

Delegates seemed punch drunk after a four and a half month campaign, which took time to grab interest but then exploded in the last four weeks.

And as David Aaronovitch also said on Marr, Ed showed he was more ruthless.

Today, he’ll continue his task to heal the party. His Sunday Telegraph piece is telling about helping the squeezed middle. He also said he wants to lead a responsible opposition.

But now he’s got to be seen to stand up to the unions and be radical, but on the centreground of politics. They’re not mutually exclusive.

The first five minutes of Marr were taken up with his union support. So Ed’s going to have make a symbolic gesture to stop being defined as the rabid leftie he patently isn’t.

And the unions know that’s going to happen – and will be happy to take a bit of a public kicking or slight.

I don’t buy that Unite will march into Ed’s suite with a shopping list. They’re just happy Miliband Major didn’t grab the crown. Tony Woodley will be happy with that. One for his legacy.

Now they’ve got his way, Woodley and Kinnock should now gracefully step back from the rolling news two ways and let him be the leader of the NEW generation.

So on to the tortuous hell that is the leader’s speech.

16 years ago Ed would be toiling over Gordon’s.

Now he’s on his own.

Expect his aides to be trolling the bars with that age old conference mantra.

“Got any jokes?”

It’ll be my 25th conference (he started me young!) but I’ll always have a soft spot for MCR.

Yes, Blackpool has a faded charm and is on the way back up with the redevelopment of the beach front – they should have got that casino.

But Manchester Conference Centre is a brilliant venue. It’s also where I saw Tony Wilson’s Tenth Summer of Punk in 1986.

In one day at the GMEX, as it was then, I saw A Certain Ratio, The Fall, ex Velvet Undergrounder John Cale, Pete Shelly and Howard Devoto from the Buzzcocks.

But it’s the headliners which have resonance with today’s announcement in the same venue.

The first was New Order – well, whoever we choose today will represent that. A clean break with the old and the chance for a political rebirth.

The second was The Smiths, who came onto The Queen is Dead (insert your own joke here. They were a band that did well but ultimately split up amidst immense acrimony.

I hope today we’ll take our lead from the former not the latter!

Anyway, whichever Miliband gets it, I hope he has a chance to read my debut blog for Sion Simon’s excellent LabourUncut.

Labour’s a big job to do in getting its communications in order and hopefully I’ve given them a few ideas.

I managed to pop back to Ireland to surprise Roz and our wonderful daughter Ava Grace.

But the fallout from the Irish PM’s infamous Morning Ireland radio interview is still rumbling on, thanks to social media.

For those who don’t know, Cowen went on the radio only hours after a late night drinking session at a party meeting.

He was welcomed, as was Brown, as a refreshing antidote to the ‘spin’ driven governance that came before. In Cowen’s case it was Bertie Ahern.

But this radio appearance, along with a couple of photos of him looking a bit worse for wear, have many wishing for the presentational prowess of his predecessor.

A tweet from an opposition politician, Fina Gael’s Simon Coveney seemed to capture the public mood, stating Cowen seemed to be ‘halfway between drunk and hungover.’

That tweet also served to push the story into the mainstream media as the state broadcaster RTE had initially ignored the below-par interview.

Cowen initially responded that the tweet was a ‘new low in Irish politics.‘

But that response only made matters worse as the public were starting to agree with Coveney’s analysis.

Cowen eventually had to apologise but refused to admit he’d had one too many, the line being to blame it on his ‘hoarseness.’

As a media trainer, I’d advise against morning interviews unless you’ve done solid prep work the night before, had a good eight hours sleep and drink plenty of water.

I’m not sure he’s hungover – from experience I know the Irish can take industrial amounts of alcohol and still function properly – but he does sound very tired and congested. Maybe a touch of ‘conference flu?’

He’ll survive for now but Fianna Fail already face a difficult election next year.

That task may now be made more difficult by a PM who in the minds of the voters kept drinking until AM.

But the really interesting issue is how social media is starting to push stories normally ignored by the establishment mainstream media.

I wouldn’t accuse RTE of being subserviant to Cowen and his Government. But as we’ve seen recently with Tom Watson’s success on the Met Police’s investigation of phone tapping and Paul ‘Guido” Staines’ pursuit of William Hague, mainstream media is now having to treat social media and the blogosphere just as importantly as the Press Association wires.

Anyway, what do you think? Is Cowen hungover or just hoarse?

So after 40 hustings over 17 weeks, it’s nearly over.

I originally called back in May for as long as leadership contest as possible, especially after the last coronation and the election defeat

I’d probably say on balance it was still a good thing to have a four month debate to examine where we went wrong and where Labour goes next. But we’ve all been tested at times. Having watched most of the televised hustings, the same arguments and lines have been repeated ad infiniutm.

It’a a bit like sitting through your favourite film EVERY week and mouthing each line of dialogue.

However the big benefit of this contest is that the main candidates have actually learned how to campaign.

They’ve built teams from scratch, they’ve motivated volunteers and worked across the party and the country to win support from Facebook to face-to-face.

So we now have five senior politicians with very formidable cutting-edge campaign experience.

The challenge for them will be to unite behind a leader and turn their fire back on to the coalition.

It  won’t be easy.

They’ve given up a third of a year to follow their dream,  sacrificed their time with their families to traipse around the UK to attend house-meetings, CLPs and phone banks.

You can’t go through that, lose and then smile sweetly whilst platituding that the best man/woman run.

For most it’ll be very sore, raw and intially a bit hard to accept. It’ll be a campaign comedown.

But I predict this – losing won’t be that bad.

In fact, the runner-up will go on to become the darling of the party for years to come. And that’s a very powerful position to be in as the leader won’t be able to do a thing without explicitly bringing the loser and his supporters with him.

Because if there’s one thing the Labour party loves it’s the nearly guy. The fella who slogged his guts out, gave his all, only to fall short at the end.

Perhaps that’s why TB was viewed with suspicion. He was way too much of a winner for our liking!

So, yes, the new leader will have their day on September 25th. But the person who comes second will earn a title with much more affection and respect from the party.

That old chestnut of the best leader Labour NEVER had.

And the new leader had better hug him close -  like a brother.