Can Purnell Rescue Labour?
14th May 2008
Posted in: Lead Story | The New New Labour Project
Written by: Ali Gledhill
The question is asked in the Spectator this week. If Fraser Nelson’s blog post is anything to go by, the article itself might well be worth reading. Purnell, of course, would not be able to launch a coup. But he could easily coast on the back of one instigated elsewhere. Chris Huhne, not renowned for backstabbing, has twice made decent efforts to capitalise on the departure of his leaders and he continues to come across as the good guy. Purnell could easily have a go, and if he failed to reap the rewards he would always have another chance.
The media is hideously fickle at the moment. There is no narrative consistent enough to gain the momentum to unseat Brown. Like a cat toying with a mouse, Brown is repeatedly being given the freedom to run to arm’s length before the great paw of the British press clutches him back in again. The claws are outstretched just enough for the mouse to know their presence. Like that wonderful scene in The Lion King where Scar is challenged “didn’t your mother tell you not to play with your food?”, the media’s best response is silence.
Brown has weathered this latest storm, but he will find the next one far more difficult. Like a ship with a hole above the waterline, Brown can coast in settled seas. But the waves will lap again, and anything approaching the mess of the 10 pence tax fiasco will be devastating for him. He has no new by-elections he could win, no more people to bribe, no money left to borrow. It is then that he will have to jump ship, or someone will have to sink him. Purnell could just be Labour’s lifeboat.
Of course is Brown fights the election, the whole dynamic will change. Not until the full results were known could anyone make a sensible prediction. Purnell will take comfort in the fact that he can sit out of leadership for a fair few years yet, waiting his turn until the party fortunes are looking sunny again.
