The Good, The Bad and The Mandelson
Carousel OpinionPublished October 13, 2008 at 16:41 No Comments
It seems strange that the Labour Party, which has done so little wrong in the last 10 years, has struggled of late to do anything right in the eyes of the electorate, and to a lesser extent the press (obviously excluding The Daily Mail who have never liked anything the party has done in government, or out for that matter).
The recent re-shuffle is a case in point. Many in the media, and in the Labour Party itself, have criticised Gordon Brown’s decision to bring Peter Mandelson back to British politics. This is a shrewd move though. It is an attempt by Brown to re-instate political stability in the government (Mandelson recently gave his support to Brown as leader of the party) and give himself greater political definition. Something he has admittedly lacked, some seriously suggest. Mandelson has been brought back as he is a steady figure in a crisis. And these times are certainly a time of crisis.
Bringing Mandelson back is definitely a sign that Brown has not given up on winning the next election. Mandelson gives some weight to Labour’s claims that the Conservatives: David Cameron and George Osbourne in particular, are lightweight in substance and are not capable of dealing with Britain’s current problems. Additionally, Mandelson has always frightened the Tories, despite the many jokes they make at his expense. It is obvious to everyone involved in politics that Mandelson has always been a highly competent minister. Many ministers in the previous cabinet evidently were not.
However, new thinkers and new faces are needed to help Labour fight back against the Conservatives. Mandelson will certainly boost the party but will he boost its standing in the polls? It is too soon to tell. I’d like to think he will. It was thought that Jon Cruddas would be brought into the government as Housing Minister, but he rightly declined in fear of being neutered. He is certainly the sort of politician the Party needs in government. He is popular with the grass-roots and has plenty of ideas that would certainly appeal to the masses. Maybe this is where Brown has gone wrong with his re-shuffle, although he got most of it right.
The re-shuffle should do something to help further the recent drop of the Tory lead in the polls. The opposition’s lead has been cut from 20 to 12 per cent in the last month. A significant drop, and hopefully a sign the country has realised the party is not prepared to govern.
The financial crisis has also helped Labour, with 55 per cent in a recent Guardian/ICM poll agreeing that Brown has dealt with it well. However, a bewildering 37 per cent trust David Cameron to deal with the problems better (Brown was on 34).
With David Cameron becoming more and more blue by the week, I would hope that people will realise it could be dangerous to vote Conservative at the next election.
Joel Lamb
