The Rt Hon George Jones MP is Leader of the Labour Party, and he’s determined to become the next Prime Minister. Outwardly there’s an impressive display of confidence in his abilities as polling day approaches, but behind closed doors things look much more shaky: “Is he up to the job?” people ask with increasing frequency.

This storyline may sound as if it’s been freshly minted for 2015, but in fact it comes from David Hare’s play The Absence of War, which premiered in 1994.

The play was inspired by research carried out during the 1992 election — an election which resulted in defeat for Labour’s Neil Kinnock.

“My main aim,” says Hare in a programme note, “was to write a classic play about leadership.”

Nonetheless, as events unfold in Jeremy Herrin’s new production of The Absence of War (briefly staged at the Playhouse last week), you are frequently struck by the thought that much remains unchanged since 1992.

“Being over-rehearsed is very bad,” Nigel Farage was reported as saying in last weekend’s Sunday papers, “It is stilted. The public sees that.”

In The Absence of War, Labour leader Jones is given distinctly similar advice: “Speak from the heart,” he is told by his political advisers, “Not about the b****y economic plan, which we all know you don’t understand.”

Hare provides some strong characters, and director Herrin has assembled a good cast to flesh them out.

Reece Dinsdale portrays Jones as a self-educated Northerner, who is indeed not prime-ministerial material because he’s too nice: his disastrous Newsnight-style grilling on television is painful to watch, as is the blazing row (fists are thrown) he has with his heir apparent, shadow chancellor Malcolm Pryce (Gyuri Sarossy giving a chilling portrayal of a crocodile awaiting the chance to strike).

Particularly memorable in support roles are Cyril Nri as Machiavellian political adviser Oliver Dix, and Charlotte Lucas as a brisk, bossy publicity manager.