The succession talk is chasing Gordon Brown into the weekend. Here’s Martin Kettle in today’s Guardian:
“A spectre is haunting the Labour party – the spectre of Gordon Brown’s failure. Questions about Brown abound in Labour ranks. The concern is not, as far as I can tell from many conversations this week, primarily about Brown’s policies or about the changes at No 10. The question is mainly about him. Right now, the problem is Brown himself…
…A lot is written about the growing fatalism in Labour ranks. It exists, but don’t exaggerate it. There is also still a hunger for re-election, especially among younger MPs. That enduring hunger is, in my view, the real reason why Brown is under such criticism. “If David Cameron was way out ahead in the way Blair was before 1997 then people would say there’s nothing much we can do about it,” says another ex-minister.
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