SUMMER is drawing to close - in case the weather hadn’t tipped you off - and politicians in Wales and across the UK are gearing up to get back to the day-to-day work of running the country.

So it seems a good time to have a look at what’s in store over the next few months.

In Wales the leadership contests in Labour, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru are rumbling on.

The Tories will be next to declare their new leader, with Andrew RT Davies’ replacement to be announced next week. Paul Davies certainly seems to have the support of most of the big hitters in the party, but I wouldn’t count Suzy Davies out just yet.

Either way you can guarantee it’ll be a Davies. At least they won’t have to change the office stationary.

Meanwhile the Plaid Cymru leadership seems like it could be anyone’s game.

Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth are both putting in strong showings on the campaign trail, but only a fool would count out Leanne Wood, who is an extremely popular figure within the party.

And in Labour little seems to have changed since Carwyn Jones announced he was quitting, with Mark Drakeford still the clear frontrunner, and only Vaughan Gething looking like a credible competitor.

The other three candidates - including Blaenau Gwent’s Alun Davies, as well as Eluned Morgan and Huw Irranca-Davies - haven’t even secured the necessary five nominations to get on the ballot paper. Either way it’ll be quite an upset if we don’t go into 2019 with Mark Drakeford as first minister.

Meanwhile there’s the minor issue of Brexit, with Theresa May and whoever's in her cabinet this week apparently intent on annoying those who voted to leave the EU as much as those who didn't by making making more of a mess of things than anyone could have predicted while opposition politicians in Westminster, Wales and across the UK shout ineffectually from the sidelines.

With just seven months to go until we're cast adrift from Europe and left to float out into the Atlantic, it's way beyond time for them to get their act together and at come to some sort of deal - but there seems little sign of this happening.

I've even heard some of the more cynical commentators suggesting, knowing they've no chance of winning another General Election, the Tories are deliberately making a mess of it before they leave Jeremy Corbyn and pals to clean things up.

This borders a little far to the tin hat school of thinking for my liking, but there's no denying we're unlikely to have to wait until 2022 for the next General Election. My prediction: Theresa May will hang on until we're out of Europe and then not-so-gracefully call another election, which will almost certainly see the Conservatives turfed out of Number 10.

Back in Wales, we're still twiddling our thumbs waiting for the release of the recommendations of the M4 relief road inquiry. We were initially told this would be out in the summer, but clearly that hasn't happened. I'm told it'll come in the autumn.

But, with opposition to the long-awaited project seeming to mount every day, the general feeling in Cardiff Bay is the scheme is dead in the water. This would be a disastrous outcome, but hardly much of a surprise after literally decades of waiting.

Meanwhile, questions will continue to be asked about the death of Carl Sargeant, with an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as the inquest, meaning this is a story we'll continue to hear about for some time.

We should be hearing more about plans to reorganise Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the coming months too, along with proposals to increase the number of AMs to as many as 90. But, even if the Welsh Government manages to get an increase in AMs through - which is quite the tall order - it's beginning to look fairly unlikely it'll do so in time for the 2021 Assembly Election.

And of course there's the ever-present spectre of council reorganisation in Wales, if the Welsh Government and councils can actually come to a new structure they can agree on. Don't hold your breath.

There's a few bills passing through the Assembly too, with AMs looking at revamping support for people with autism, providing more funding for childcare and putting new restrictions on private landlords.

As always, there'll be a few surprises along the way. The new leadership of Gareth Bennett in Ukip's Assembly group will certainly have an impact on proceedings in the Senedd - whether or not that's positive or negative remains to be seen.

And if the turmoil of the past 12 months has taught us anything it's that we never know what's coming next. But it's comforting to know Boris Johnson will always be there with a tray of tea.