Is Alan Johnson running for leader?

Is Alan Johnson running for leader of the Labour Party? Well someone clearly thinks so - they've registered johnson4leader.co.uk and a number of other domain names.

As our regular blog expert Iain Dale explains, it's a classic internet story, where schemeing politicos have been caught by sleuthing geeks, who understand the tech much better than they do.

The best detail of the story is that the owner of the domains tried to cover his or her tracks by setting up the websites to forward all visits to the homepage of Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota.

'Oh fine,' you're invited to think - 'It's an American site. Nothing to do with us.' But why would a US senator register a UK internet address? As soon as someone raises this question on a blog, the site mysteriously stops pointing to Tim Johnson's blog.

Busted! But who exactly has been busted? The domain name is registered is in the name of a David Taylor. But who exactly is he? And is he linked with Alan Johnson?

The Dizzy Thinks blog broke the story, and he has a theory - you can hear his account here, or listen to Iain's telling of the tale here.

The blog of the week is Tim Worstall.

Comments

[Tim Worstall]

Goodie! Do I get a prize? Groupies? A free pint?