Gordon Brown knows he is finished

Gordon Brown knows he is finished. My prediction is that he will not use his constitutional right to hang on if the Tories are the largest party in a hung parliament. OK, the Labour leader might try to stay in No 10 – for a second, maybe a minute, perhaps even an academic quarter, trying desperately to persuade a triumphant Nick Clegg that a Lib-Lab coalition is vital for Britain, and that the Tories are evil and must be resisted.

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Melanie McDonagh

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But he will soon give up, throw down the phone in anger, shout at Stewart Wood, ask his colleagues to leave him alone and sit in the office alone for a minute, acknowledging his Greek fate. Sue Nye and Peter Mandelson will come in and they all will discuss what kind of message to give the waiting cameras – graceful exit, apocalyptic warnings from the No 10 threshold or a teary, sympathy-reaching “I-gave-it-my-all-for-a-country-I-love” statement.