Deathrace

Mandelson was on the weekly Times Radio podcast "How to win an election" for most of the past year. His voice is a bit croaky sometimes but he's not obviously seriously unwell.

On that theme, I think Stuart Hall would also be worth a punt.

Worth noting that the other two people (neither of whom are South African) who are name-checked in I've never met a nice South African, are both still very much alive.

Former Labour and SDP MP John Cartwright has died aged 90 https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/john-cartwright-obituary-mp-who-abandoned-the-loony-left-for-the-sdp-lrwg9q883

Better candidates to retain on the list for 2025. He needs to be dropped.

I saw Michael Howard walking down the street about two weeks ago with his wife who also still looks good for her age. He looked fine but he's at an age where he could go into decline fairly quickly.

John Reid also struck me as someone who I didn't expect to see old bones. 77 is practically 97 for a former chain smoker from his part of the World.

I thought he'd go soon after his wife Margaret given they were clearly a very devoted couple but he's outlived her by nearly four years so far. Carteresque.

Trump claimed at his latest rally that Jimmy Carter voted for him.

Yes, definitely slightly thinner. It looks quite early stage Parkinsons as he's not shaking much and his speech is still ok. Unlikely that he's in any imminent danger I would say.

It's very hard to think of many recent Scottish politicians who have lived to be 90 plus. Winnie Ewing (who lived to be 93) and Sir Albert McQuarrie (who Salmond defeated in 1987 and lived to be 98) are the only ones I can think of.

Makes Paul Breitner the last person alive to have scored in the 1974 World Cup Final. There's still one goalscorer from 1962 (Amarildo), two from 1966 (Hurst and Weber) and three from 1970 (Gerson, Jairzinho and Boninsegna) still going.

It's pleasantly surprising how resilient that generation of Coronation Street actresses have been - Thelma Barlow (born 1929), Eileen Derbyshire (born 1931) and Barbara Knox (born 1933) all still going along with Sue Nicholls (born 1943). You could also add in Ann Reid (born 1935) and Madge Hindle (born 1938) who were both memorably killed off in the show but are still alive.

Just as Bjorn gets married again https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clylrrdjg78o

Here's a video of her speaking at her 90th birthday party https://x.com/mamboitaliano__/status/1837529643135447169 My best guess is she has between 2 and 5 years left.