Photo by Paul Ellis – WPA Pool/Getty Images What is politics? Clichés are likely to abound in response to this question. The dirty pursuit of power, or the noble pursuit of the good life? It is, of course, both of these things and more. But for the purposes of the battle for control of the Labour Party, politics is now really just two simple challenges: a lesson in counting, and a test of character. Whoever masters both will emerge from the melee with the power to shape the future of the country. Let us start with the numbers. It was Lyndon Johnson who declared that the first rule of politics was to learn how to count. This bon mot has been repeated so often that it has become cliché. Yet, as anyone who has read Robert Caro or watched British politics of late can attest, counting is vital. For good or ill – and with LBJ it was often both – democratic politics rests on the ability to build and maintain the coalitions necessary to win votes.…