James Forsyth James Forsyth

Where it all went wrong for Brown: he’s never said sorry

What is most remarkable about the descent of Gordon Brown is that the voters have never even hinted at giving him a second chance. Ever since the debacle of the election that never was Brown and Labour’s ratings have moved downwards at a pretty rapid clip. We are now at a point where 74 percent of voters think he is a change for the worse from Blair and the Labour party is in some danger of being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats in the polls.

There is one very simple, overlooked reason why Prime Minister Brown hasn’t been given a second chance: he’s never asked for one. In his interview with Andrew Marr after cancelling the election or after the May Day elections where Labour recorded its worst local election results for 40 years and lost London, Brown could have said sorry and asked the public to give him another go. Instead, he has stuck stubbornly by Disraeli’s dictum: never apologise, never explain.

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