8th May:

As someone who has always felt more of an affiliation with the parties on the left of the political spectrum rather than the right, it saddens me to see the current state of Labour.

As their election campaign came to its conclusion this week, I realised just how much my opinion of Gordon Brown had changed over its course. I had previously considered Brown to be a rather dull but worthy politician – someone who had little time for the fluff and ephemera of politics, preferring to concentrate on the substance: the policies and issues that mattered. In some ways I looked on this as a good thing, thinking that it may herald a move towards a more serious and positive style of politics. As the events of this Thursday and Friday unfolded, however, I felt a change. Today, Brown strikes me as someone who is far more ruthless than I originally thought. He has patiently waited to achieve his life-long goal and then, having obtained the power he has so desperately craved, will do anything required to hang on to it. Irrespective of how desperate that makes him look or how illegitimate it leaves his position. Whether through arrogance or ignorance, Brown seems oblivious to the fact that the country doesn’t want him. It can’t be easy when you finally get the job of your dreams and then discover that people don’t think you cut the mustard but, like a boxer who has taken one punch too many, Brown really should know that the fight is now over and yet he boxes on. It isn’t pretty to watch. The blatant overtures to the LibDems, the talk of electoral reform despite 13 years of inactivity over this very issue and the hastily-denied furious phone call to Nick Clegg late on Friday night all broadcast the same message: I’ll do whatever it takes to remain as PM. Which is worrying when the recent revelations regarding Brown’s bad temper, the accusations of bullying and the whole ‘Bigotgate’ affair have already painted Brown as a man who is quick to blame others for his own failings and quick to cast aside anyone who dares to dissent.

There may be a power vacuum behind Brown, with no obvious successor waiting in the wings, but the Labour party needs to behave in exactly the same way as the Tories did with Thatcher back in the early 1990s if they are to regain public support. No one player can ever be bigger than the team.