Ok, so identifying the heroes of the New Labour era may not sit well with CoffeeHousers – but I’d still recommend you read through the latest Bagehot column in the Economist, which does just that. It identifies five figures from the past 12 years who have “done the state and country some serious and lasting service,” and whose “virtues [are] not be clouded or cancelled by grave mistakes or misdemeanours”. They are: Lord Adonis, Donald Dewar, Lord Mandelson, Sir William Macpherson and Robin Cook. James Purnell, Alistair Darling and, strikingly, Bill Clinton finish in the runners-up list.
You can debate the merits and demerits of those names all day long, but I’d rather suggest another person for the list: John Hutton.
To my mind, the MP for Barrow and Furness, has, in a quietly competent way, achieved a great deal in government.
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