Campaign Manager, Basil 'The Brush' Andrews, claims that Diane Abbott originally planned to adopt the nickname 'Iron Monk' in homage to both Australian, Tony 'Iron Monk' Abbott and the late Margaret 'Iron Lady' Thatcher.
"We felt that Diane needed to throw off the preconceived ideas that had been established before the Labour Leadership Campaign began, a new shining, bold, rigid, almost austere and religious nickname may just have done the trick" said Basil 'The Brush' Andrews. "But as usual Diane got carried away with the idea and after several days of brain-storming we realised that a dizzy, left wing, overweight woman of afro caribean origin is precisely that, a dizzy, left wing, overweight woman of caribean origin, and no amount of name change, cosmetic application or lip-o-suction is going to change what we all know to be true!"
It is rumoured that Diane herself came up with some very provocative ideas, if possibly somewhat mis-guided or insensitive. These ranged from the bizarre such as 'Mugabes Mistress' to the sublime 'Melt inyo Mouth' none of which would have enhanced her bid to become Labour Leader. In Brixton High St, local bookies had shorter odds on George Kennedy winning!