Has Brown led Labour to its worst results since 1968?

So, when was the last year Labour did so badly? “Since records began in 1973” say the Tories but surely they can do better than that. Michael Portillo, whom I was sitting beside for an hour as we waited to be called by the BBC, pointed out that there may not be equivalent national share calculated before then but other data must exist. We reckoned that the relatively late emergence of the LibDems as a third force must mean this was Labour’s worst showing since the war. But on the way out, Tony Travers told me he reckons it’s the worst since 1968. While the rest of the world was exploding in socialist riots and free love, the Tories took Hackney and Islington with 60% of the London vote – Labour had 28%. Still better than Labour’s projected 26%. So there is still a chance that Gordon Brown has just led his party to its worst showing in his lifetime.