"People who say their heart is with Jeremy Corbyn, get a transplant," Tony Blair advised the growing number of people backing the radical left-winger over the summer.
At midday, we will find out exactly how many people need a heart transplant, according to the diagnosis of the former Labour Prime Minister, at the same time as discovering whether Mr Corbyn has indeed caused the biggest political upset in post-war Britain.
It is precisely these kinds of exaggerated and unnecessary attacks from New Labour figures that have contributed to the surge of Corbyn and his almost-certain victory in the leadership election.
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And despite admitting that the “nasty and unpleasant” abuse targeted towards him during the campaign, which he said had been “deeply hurtful to my wife, family and close friends,” he is prepared for the onslaught to intensify.
Jeremy Corbyn's son, right, has played a key role in his campaign
Whether his family and those around him are equally prepared is another matter. His campaign team are just as baffled as everyone about his meteoric rise, for example.
One member of the camp explains how they have only been back home a handful of times over the summer, having expected only to have to work a few days a week on the what was expected to be quite a marginal campaign. She just hopes the husband and dog are still there when she finally returns later today, she says. Whether she will stay on in Corbyn’s new role as leader is still undecided.
But it is Corbyn’s family that will experience the intensification of media attention the most. His grandson was running around Corbyn’s ‘homecoming’ rally on Thursday night, lapping up all the euphoria and attention that his bearded granddad was receiving.
He is unlikely to enjoy so much seeing endless face of his granddad appearing in the newspapers and the smears that will inevitably be levelled against him until the 66-year-old finally quits politics altogether.
How will his wife Laura Alvarez cope with cameras following her everywhere and the media spotlight hungry for any slip up or semi-dodgy behaviour? She only married Corbyn earlier this year – being married to the Leader of the Opposition was surely not in the agreement?
Chuka Umunna pulled out of the leadership race because he was worried about the impact of the media scrutiny on his family, his partner and her family.
As a shadow chancellor, or another key position in the frontbench team, the scrutiny is only about your life, he said. Becoming leader takes that to a whole new level and he was not prepared to subject himself and those around him to that.
For Corbyn, as a man shouting from the backbenches for the last 30 years, he has never experienced media scrutiny like it. After today, his life will never be the same again and the lives of those around him will experience their own dramatic changes too. How he copes with that pressure will define his leadership, and the next five years of the Labour party.
