So now we know what happened during those uncertain days following the election in May
– or at least we know Peter Mandelson’s side of it. The Times begins its serialisation of the Dark Lord’s book today with a front-page photo of Nick Clegg and the legend, “Clegg the Executioner”. And,
inside, Mandelson explains how the Lib Dem leader made Gordon Brown’s departure a precondition of any
coalition deal with Labour. Not the most surprising news ever, but worth having on record nonetheless.
Aside from that, there’s little of much weight in these first extracts, but plenty of titbits for political anoraks. Here are five that jumped out at me:
1) Blair thought that a LibLab deal was an “error”. Going off Peter Mandelson’s account of a telephone conversation with Tony Blair, it seems the former PM takes a more long-term view of Labour’s position: that now is the time for them to be out of power, so that they can return in future.
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