Gary Gibbon
Gordon Brown’s ex-spin doctor gets a new job
Justin Forsyth, who was Gordon Brown’s head of communications at No. 10, has a new job – Chief Executive at Save the Children.
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Gary Gibbon
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Gary Gibbon
The government hung by a cashmere thread
So Gordon Brown is through this storm. And he has Peter Mandelson to thank for it. For one moment on Thursday night, the government hung by a cashmere thread. But Peter Mandelson rallied David Miliband, the moment of maximum danger passed. The Prime Minister is a weakened figure sitting in the Cabinet this morning. He…
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Gary Gibbon
Hutton’s resignation reflects Labour’s despair
The John Hutton resignation is not a naked political attack, like James Purnell’s. But it is symptomatic of something even more serious than Labour’s divisions – Labour’s despair. John Hutton doesn’t rate Gordon Brown that highly – his private comments on Mr Brown are legendary and profane. But he can’t quite see the point of…
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Jon Snow
Purnell breaks from the pack to plunge the knife
To answer my own initial question: Purnell has broken from the pack. He has done what David Miliband, conceivably Andy Burnham, and maybe John Hutton (of whom more in a moment), might have done and must have been thinking of doing. Purnell has plunged a knife that has been waiting for such an exercise for…
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Gary Gibbon
It was Mandelson who Balls it up for Ed
New rumour is that Gordon Brown didn’t actually decide to keep Alistair Darling in place until this morning and that an early morning conversation with Peter Mandelson swung it. That won’t do much for Mandelson/Balls relations, which had been patched up since Lord Mandelson’s return to government. Ed Balls will be feeling frustrated that his…
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Gary Gibbon
Balls! How Gordon’s dream ended
Alistair Darling saw the Prime Minister last night for a long conversation and made it plain he didn’t think he should be thrown out of the Chancellorship. The chancellor was offered a number of jobs but turned them all down. I believe Mr Darling left still not entirely clear whether he had won his right…
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Jon Snow
Purnell goes – and rolls back the political sardine tin lid
Crumbs! An act of personal political courage – or of scheming personal political advancement? At this point almost impossible to judge. I don’t know James Purnell well. He was once a pivotal bag carrier, speech writer and muse inside Tony Blair’s Downing Street. Hence a Blairite, almost certainly well aware of, and wary of, Gordon…
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Gary Gibbon
Gordon’s ‘phone a friend’ reshuffle
The Cabinet reshuffle is under way. Most of it will happen by phone because ministers are out in constituencies where they we’re putting in some time campaigning. This is Gordon Brown’s moment to assert his much diminished authority .
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Jon Snow
A day of miscalculation by the political classes
How convenient, the Whitsun break. Have you ever wondered how many weeks the political classes absent themselves in a year? But the problem today is not absenteeism. In some cases it’s a lack of it.