Brightening up the leadership blues

Reid has given the clearest indication yet he’s not going to stand, barring a late entry from Clarke, it looks as if the Blarities are going to pave the way for a short Brown Government. The Blairite’s best move in my opinion.

Given that the leadership battle is potentially going to be pretty boring (the Lefty candidates have decided to combine their votes) the Would Be King team have decided to try and brighten it up through the power of graphs.

According to our “official” figures, this represents the current state of play.

race_to_number10_2.PNG

Key:
Magenta=Gordon, blue=McDonnell, yellow=Meacher, grey=undecided

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Will the Chancellor have Balls?

A better than average attempt by the Economist today to convince us all that Ed Balls should be Chancellor under Gordon’s regime. It seems to suggest that because Ed’s had so much influence over economic policy in the UK, and will continue to do so under Gordon, you might as well make him Chancellor…it’s easier that way.

I wouldn’t put my money on Ed getting the Chancellorship- Jack’s got to be rewarded for the leadership campaign he’s running. Also Ed’s biggest problem, as the Economist eloquently points out, is

“for someone of such high intelligence, he can sound oddly inarticulate, like a badly programmed speak-your-weight machine”.

Ed is much better behind the scenes working the levers.

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The early years

Just in case you missed last night’s background report on Gordon, here’s Channels 4’s dusted down footage again.

What can we learn from this?

Well, it seems that whilst he was Rector of Edinburgh University, not only did he intimidate the academic staff, he also took over, acting like he was in charge of everything. As the Principal said “sometimes student Rectors seemed to think that once they are Rector that this is equivalent to being PM, which is a complete misunderstanding of their role.” Sound familiar?!

Also note his brother’s response when asked if Gordon’s a control freak:

“I dont see him as a control freak…I..I..just don’t see that..um..being Gordon. Urmmm I think (pause)…he’s (brother struggling for an answer). He likes, he likes to know what is happening and..you know..does that make someone a control freak?”

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Tracking Gordon - homework edition

Today Brown visited another school, where he reassuringly told the kids he’s no good at maths.  Must have been a boost for the kids knowing that to be Chancellor you don’t need maths.

He also made the mistake of tucking his trousers into his shoes.  It could be worse, he could have done a Major (having his shirt tucked into his pants). 

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Mili-Me EU deal?

Le Croche-Pied is spreading an interesting rumour about why Miliband isn’t standing against Brown.  It suggests there was an agreement between Blair and Brown over the EU Constitution, with Miliband agreeing to support Brown on the condition that Brown agrees to have a proactive European policy.  I thought it was because Mili-Me realised he won’t get the votes he needs, couldn’t beat Brown and would sacrifice his political career.  

There have been some suggestions that Brown is willing to take a more proactive approach towards the EU.  David Rennie wrote this sometime ago, pointing out Brown’s attempt to build bridges with our European partners.

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Brown’s unofficial official campaign begins

Labour MPs are being canvassed to vote for Brown as the rumour spreads that Blair will resign on 9th May. The Guardian has some initial figures of support giving:

Brown - 217 MPs

McDonnell - 40 MPs

Meacher - 3 MPs

That leaves 92 undecided, clearly enough for a Blairite challenger.

Update. 21st March:

The Telegraph is reporting that Brown has 200.  It reports that Miliband believes he does not have enough support from MPs to challenge Brown.

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Scottish business snubs Labour says SNP

There’s an interesting accusation the SNP are putting about today concerning Labour’s Scottish campaign.  Supposedly, Labour sent out a letter to business chiefs in an attempt to sure up support against Scottish independence.  Unfortunately this had to be withdrawn after no one was willing to sign it.  Looks like this says more about how unpopular Labour is rather than business being in favour of independence. 

As an example of good timing, Gordon’s visiting a Scottish ship yard in Scotstoun today to speak about how well the Scottish economy is doing.

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Brown to stay till 2014?

“Brown will only be PM for seven years”, the Indy tells us today, quoting one of Brown’s closest colleagues.  But this certainly appears more like a false promise intended to convince others not to challenge him, than a real pledge.

Such a pledge would put the next election in 2010, whereas it seems certain to be in 2009.  If Brown does win this election, then there’s a good chance he’ll try to hang on for as long as possible.  Power is addictive: Brown would only leave when the position is finally wrestled from his big clunking fists.

What this does show is that if the Brown camp are coming up with coded deals to convince Blairites not to stand, they’re clearly scared of a challenge.

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Site maintenance

I’ll be upgrading the Wordpress installation this afternoon so some things might be broken for the next couple of hours.

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They don’t call it the “Brown Bottom” for nothing

I knew it would not be long before someone did a story on Brown’s gold rush (they don’t call it the “Brown Bottom” for nothing). According to the Sunday Times, the decision to sell off the gold was made without discussions with the Bank of England and cost the taxpayer £2bn.

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