Prime Minister Harriet
Monday's Daily Mail reported that Harriet Harman was discreetly enquiring of colleagues as to whether she had any chance of a sympathetic reception as a potential replacement for Brown. And yesterday Iain Dale’s tickertape machine alerted us to a Commons dining room confab between our Hattie and Jack Straw.
With Brown in Japan, this modus operandi is a bit like that of some foreign countries who depose their Presidents when they are out of the country (the example of The Gambia springs to mind) - but, of course, with a peculiar Britishness of style about it.
So is Brown finished as PM?
Well, Margaret Curran seems like an excellent candidate for the Glasgow East by-election. So if she is beaten, then Brown really is Paxoed.
Why? Well, you only need to look at the article by David Hencke in the Guardian on Brown’s first anniversary. There are descriptions of him ringing up minor minions in the early hours and getting involved in the fine minutiae of policy decisions. The man clearly cannot delegate – one of the first requirements of a manager. His ratings are down in the nether regions but he seems incapable of knowing what to do about it - aside from plunging himself even more assiduously to the fine minutiae of government.
So far, Harriet Harman seems to be the only Labour senior figure with any sign of sufficient gonads to shove Brown aside.
With Brown in Japan, this modus operandi is a bit like that of some foreign countries who depose their Presidents when they are out of the country (the example of The Gambia springs to mind) - but, of course, with a peculiar Britishness of style about it.
So is Brown finished as PM?
Well, Margaret Curran seems like an excellent candidate for the Glasgow East by-election. So if she is beaten, then Brown really is Paxoed.
Why? Well, you only need to look at the article by David Hencke in the Guardian on Brown’s first anniversary. There are descriptions of him ringing up minor minions in the early hours and getting involved in the fine minutiae of policy decisions. The man clearly cannot delegate – one of the first requirements of a manager. His ratings are down in the nether regions but he seems incapable of knowing what to do about it - aside from plunging himself even more assiduously to the fine minutiae of government.
So far, Harriet Harman seems to be the only Labour senior figure with any sign of sufficient gonads to shove Brown aside.
David Miliband fits the photogenic credentials which some associate with being PM these days. However, he has not got much experience and shows little inclination for the top job. I read James Purnell being mentioned. I presume that is a joke. Alan Johnson's ratings amongst the cognoscenti have recently plummeted. And Alan Milburn, previously a bright star, seems to be a yesterday man.
So Hattie it could be. Well, at least she has long experience. Of what though? She is the longest serving female MP. She was Secretary of State for Social Security and then returned as Solicitor General. Currently she is Leader of the House. She has survived a number of controversies over a whole raft of things: her child’s education, some speeding convictions, a rather dodgy proposal for lone parents at the height of Blairism, funding for her deputy leadership campaign, wearing a stab vest for a stroll around her constituency, being married to the Labour party treasurer etc etc.
So I suppose you could say that Harman has survivability. I find her an extremely boring speaker – a bit like an enhanced “speak your weight machine”. It’s like she’s always speaking from an internal, prepared script.
But I suppose she rates reasonably highly as a safe pair of hands.
Perhaps Penelope Wilton has something to do all this….She’s appeared as very confident British Prime Minister dealing with impending world destruction on Dr Who – a character called Harriet Jones. Perhaps this has helped plant the idea of a competent Harriet leading the country, in the mind of the population. Or perhaps Harriet Harman thinks it might have done. Or perhaps, most likely, I am "smoking dope".
So Hattie it could be. Well, at least she has long experience. Of what though? She is the longest serving female MP. She was Secretary of State for Social Security and then returned as Solicitor General. Currently she is Leader of the House. She has survived a number of controversies over a whole raft of things: her child’s education, some speeding convictions, a rather dodgy proposal for lone parents at the height of Blairism, funding for her deputy leadership campaign, wearing a stab vest for a stroll around her constituency, being married to the Labour party treasurer etc etc.
So I suppose you could say that Harman has survivability. I find her an extremely boring speaker – a bit like an enhanced “speak your weight machine”. It’s like she’s always speaking from an internal, prepared script.
But I suppose she rates reasonably highly as a safe pair of hands.
Perhaps Penelope Wilton has something to do all this….She’s appeared as very confident British Prime Minister dealing with impending world destruction on Dr Who – a character called Harriet Jones. Perhaps this has helped plant the idea of a competent Harriet leading the country, in the mind of the population. Or perhaps Harriet Harman thinks it might have done. Or perhaps, most likely, I am "smoking dope".
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