Why we can’t afford a third term

The reputation of Gordon Brown has never stood higher than it does this election weekend. The Chancellor has pulled off a double which has eluded virtually every chancellor in history: he is hailed simultaneously as a political genius and as an outstanding manager of the British economy.

Politically, this reputation is well enough justified. The general election has granted Gordon Brown the prize he has sought for almost two decades. He is now the universally accepted Labour leader-in-waiting. Tony Blair has publicly pledged his endorsement, but only because he had no choice. The Chancellor is a far more powerful and trusted figure than the Prime Minister, both inside the Labour party and in the country at large. Gordon Brown has become the crutch of a widely despised Prime Minister.

Economically, it looks at first sight the same story. At the start of the election campaign Tony Blair hailed his Chancellor as the finest for 100 years.