A grim day for Labour in Glasgow East - with Margaret Curran's promised fightback falling a crucial 365 votes short of countering a monstrously-large swing to the SNP - has provoked rumblings of discontent from nervous backbenchers. Rumours abound of a plot to usurp the great leader; crowing Tories slam the disunity and demand an immediate election; and Labour heavyweights close ranks around an embattled Brown. Yup, the silly season has well and truly begun.
Let's be honest: the by-election was a nightmare. A 22.5% swing to overturn a 13,500 majority in Labour's second-safest seat in Scotland is not very good. There can be no dressing up the result. This applies irrespective of whether Margaret Curran's namesake - Frances Curran of the Scottish Socialist Party - swung the result in the SNP's favour by confusing Glaswegians intending to vote Curran.
But there's really no need to panic: it was a by-election. Governments are supposed to get whacked, particularly when they've been in power for a while and are presiding over a shaky economy. Voter
s like to give the party in power a drubbing and there's really no rhyme or reason to it - though it's slightly more galling when said party has done so much to try to regenerate the area and alleviate the social problems afflicting many of its residents. I feel quite sorry for Curran. Propelled into the candidacy following George Ryan's last-gasp decision not to contest the seat she fought a good solid campaign based on local issues. And yet whilst the defeat isn't hers it will nonetheless probably prevent her from standing for the Scottish Labour leadership (Cathy Jamieson is my preference, incidentally).
And now, apparently, Labour supporters are itching to ditch the prime minister. Whilst it's true that Gordon Prentice and Graham Stringer - hardly PLP power-brokers - have openly called for Brown to go, theirs are almost entirely lone voices. It might well be the case that a few cabinet ministers are thinking about their futures - they are ambitious people and it's entirely plausible that they aspire to the leadership - but this does not represent a plot. They're aware, firstly, that the economic situation is not going to get better any time soon. It's hard to imagine that they'd want to take charge in these circumstances. They're aware, secondly, that the procedure for challenging an incumbent leader is very difficult. And they're aware, thirdly, that Gordon Brown, even whilst wounded, remains a formidable force. He's well respected around the world for his economic expertise, he's unmatched in terms of experience and he retains a good deal of support in the party. Sure, he's a crap communicator, and is regularly out-done at PMQs, but these impediments can be worked out. So let's ditch all this talk of a cabinet challenge.
It was good to see old John Prescott - a man for whom I have a good deal
of respect despite his shortage of braincells - providing some much-needed no-nonsense 'get behind the leader and stop all this silliness' talk this week. The cabinet is somewhat lacking - such is the towering presence of the PM - in straight-talking battle-hardened veterans able to steady the ship. Hopefully we'll see Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Jacqui Smith and Alan Johnson - the only ministers with sufficient weight and credibility - step up to the plate in the coming days.
And then perhaps we can turn fire on the Tories. Silly season is always more enjoyable when you're not on the receiving end...
s like to give the party in power a drubbing and there's really no rhyme or reason to it - though it's slightly more galling when said party has done so much to try to regenerate the area and alleviate the social problems afflicting many of its residents. I feel quite sorry for Curran. Propelled into the candidacy following George Ryan's last-gasp decision not to contest the seat she fought a good solid campaign based on local issues. And yet whilst the defeat isn't hers it will nonetheless probably prevent her from standing for the Scottish Labour leadership (Cathy Jamieson is my preference, incidentally).
And now, apparently, Labour supporters are itching to ditch the prime minister. Whilst it's true that Gordon Prentice and Graham Stringer - hardly PLP power-brokers - have openly called for Brown to go, theirs are almost entirely lone voices. It might well be the case that a few cabinet ministers are thinking about their futures - they are ambitious people and it's entirely plausible that they aspire to the leadership - but this does not represent a plot. They're aware, firstly, that the economic situation is not going to get better any time soon. It's hard to imagine that they'd want to take charge in these circumstances. They're aware, secondly, that the procedure for challenging an incumbent leader is very difficult. And they're aware, thirdly, that Gordon Brown, even whilst wounded, remains a formidable force. He's well respected around the world for his economic expertise, he's unmatched in terms of experience and he retains a good deal of support in the party. Sure, he's a crap communicator, and is regularly out-done at PMQs, but these impediments can be worked out. So let's ditch all this talk of a cabinet challenge.
It was good to see old John Prescott - a man for whom I have a good deal
of respect despite his shortage of braincells - providing some much-needed no-nonsense 'get behind the leader and stop all this silliness' talk this week. The cabinet is somewhat lacking - such is the towering presence of the PM - in straight-talking battle-hardened veterans able to steady the ship. Hopefully we'll see Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Jacqui Smith and Alan Johnson - the only ministers with sufficient weight and credibility - step up to the plate in the coming days.
And then perhaps we can turn fire on the Tories. Silly season is always more enjoyable when you're not on the receiving end...
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