"It's all so reminiscent of the last months of John Major," laments an unnamed Cabinet minister as the Government's woes mount. Yes, it is – but this is worse, and I should know. As John Major left via the front door of Number 10 on May 1 1997, I scuttled out of the back door clutching the contents of my desk in Tesco bags, the inglorious end to my three years in the Political Office. During that time, I never took off my tin hat as the political shells rained down – a leadership contest, BSE, defections, by-election defeats, euro-rows, money in brown paper envelopes. Things could not get any worse, we said to ourselves – and then they did.
And today, Gordon Brown has managed an amazing feat: to make those last months of the last Conservative government look fantastically competent – a textbook example of how to govern with a dwindling majority, split party and facing a resurgent opposition.
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