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With today's Cabinet reshuffle, Gordon Brown has made a desperate bid to save his political life.
He may for now have achieved that aim, which is in itself no mean political feat. But for Labour's election prospects, it will surely not be anywhere near enough to save his party.
This reshuffle was always supposed to be the last real opportunity ahead of the next general election for Mr Brown to repackage and refresh his government.
Instead his room for manoeuvre has been cruelly limited, underlining once again how little authority he now retains. First, the reshuffle had to be rushed forward from Monday because of the shock resignation last night of Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell.
Then it became clear that Mr Brown's long-term goal of installing Ed Balls as Chancellor had been thwarted: Alistair Darling simply refused to move, despite the damage done to him by the expenses scandal. Likewise David Miliband dug his heels in at the Foreign Office.
Instead the Prime Minister has promoted Alan Johnson to be Home Secretary, a move which may be intended to stymie this possible leadership successor's chances at a notorious graveyard of political ambition. The PM will move up other junior ministers to fill the swathe of positions vacated by the week's resignations, but they are unlikely to capture the public imagination.
Mr Purnell will no doubt have hoped that other ministers would follow his lead; this reshuffle may well have forestalled that prospect for the moment. But even if the major effect of Mr Purnell's resignation turns out to have been the sabotaging of the reshuffle, that will be damaging enough — and far more serious than the departures of Hazel Blears, Jacqui Smith and others.
Falling apart at the seams
Perhaps worse, his resignation suggests a disillusionment at the highest level with the present toxic environment. This week's resignations are not over any point of principle: they are about the prospect of powerlessness and defeat. Figures such as Purnell will hope to strengthen their position for the leadership battle, whenever it comes; Labour politicians of his generation are still young enough to ride out a period in opposition.
Others, including Defence Secretary John Hutton, who resigned today, want to get out of politics altogether: his generation know that they are unlikely to be in power again after a general election defeat, especially a big one. The fact that Mr Hutton put his career first on a day when dead British soldiers arrive home from Afghanistan underlines the selfishness of such calculations.
Just how big that defeat could be will become clearer after today's local election results and Sunday's European ones. Local results so far are bad for Labour, while the European elections could realistically see them pushed into fourth place behind the rabble of Ukip. Yet this is no longer the greatest immediate threat to the Prime Minister. Rather, today's resignations really do make the Government look as though it is falling apart at the seams.
What is still missing is a challenger to Mr Brown. As we report today, a new poll names Mr Johnson as the public's favourite choice, for the first time, to replace Mr Brown. Yet there is no guarantee that he or anyone else would make much difference to Labour's chances.
Moreover, both he and Mr Miliband remain bound to the PM. It could still take just one more major resignation to trigger the final showdown. That now looks less likely than it did over breakfast this morning. But barring such a challenge, with mostly the same faces gathered unhappily around the Cabinet table, the party is surely doomed to defeat.
A big-hearted city
At the very moment that James Purnell was dropping his bombshell, across town a room at Waterloo station was lit up with optimism. A gala dinner for the charity ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) raised an astonishing total of £16 million for its schools in the UK and elsewhere, and for programmes such as its £27 million anti-HIV/AIDS campaign in South Africa. Even in the teeth of a recession, London's tradition of philanthropy burns as brightly as ever.
Reader views (1)
Brown is a nightmare, just go we dont want you
- Rob, Rock Ferry Wirral, 08/06/2009 15:45
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