13 And Out

So this election business seems to be quite interesting, of late. No more so than watching Campbell antagonise Boulton . So now that Gordon Brown has resigned, it is the end of his front line political career but also the end of ‘that agreement’. 

I don’t believe that the pact that both Brown and Blair made in 1994 would survive until May 2010. It was supposed to be a deal that would get Labour into power but it has done more than that. Through the creation of New Labour they created some sort of uber-party which won 3 of the last 4 elections. I can’t believe Tony, rubbing his chin anxiously as he inches towards the subject of who was going to stand as leader, knew what would be in store. Or Brown, as he winced in trepidation at being asked to step aside, could have comprehended that between them they would rule the country for 13 years.

Ten of those years were Blair’s with Brown holding the second most powerful role that a politician can have. They were instrumental in introducing minimum wage which has been a good thing, equally the hazy reasons for declaring war on Iraq and subsequently Afghanistan leaves a lot of people unclear, confused and ultimately disappointed about such a decision. When Blair left in 2007, he completely resigned from politics but Brown still carried on.

The three years of his tenure were odd. It seemed that he was going to try and hold off an election until the last possible moment as the Conservatives were going to smash the party like they had been floored in 1997. So, in a way, it seemed that everyone was waiting for him to do his business and then let the election take place so that Labour could get the battering. But then the recession hit, and Brown excelled, leading the charge in helping out the banks. No one liked the fact that the banks were using reckless practices and no more so than Brown. And for the first time, perhaps the public saw this side of him. He became open and honest in appraising himself, and not always in a good light. He fought well in the television debates against far superior orators and in the end ensured that Labour did not get obliterated, as was expected towards the end of last year, and in fact deprived the Tories of the majority they wanted so much.

His time was up though and as he walked outside of Number 10 to announce he was done, the first thing I thought was about ‘that agreement’, and how such pacts or arrangements can develop into something far bigger than anyone can ever expect.

So as David Cameron steps up to be one of the youngest Prime Ministers ever, I wonder if another pact will be made between two brothers on who should become the next Labour leader.