Has the race to succeed Gordon Brown started?

First we had Harriet Harman clumsily claiming to be in charge whilst Gordon endures his holiday in Southwold. Then we had Harriet Harman's quite dangerous proposals on changing the laws on murder and manslaughter to the benefit of women; proposals that BBC 5Live seemed ready to approve of, some very positive publicity for Harriet there. Then David Miliband managed to write an article for the Guardian's Comment is Free entitled

"Against all odds we can still win, on a platform for change - Labour must stop feeling sorry for itself, enjoy a break, and return afresh to expose the emptiness of the Tory alternative"

without mentioning the great helmsman Gordon Brown even once.

So that's Harriet and one Miliband on the leadership trail, how long can Jack Straw, Ed Balls and the media favourite Alan "I don't think I've got the capabilities" Johnson leave it before they start their push?