Blackpool Bounce?
October 4th, 2007The weather in Blackpool this week was an excellent reflection of proceedings in the Winter Gardens and Imperial Hotel - balmy, calm and very pleasant indeed. Anyone who was hoping for a Brighton 1992 or Blackpool 2003 experience would have left feeling very disappointed. The prospect of an early Election has helped the Party re-discover its old secret weapon: loyalty. Secondly, the remarks by former Labour leader Neil Kinnock at Bournemouth the week before about “crushing the Tories” have only served to galvanise many of us. Mr. Kinnock’s call to arms was a faint echo of his Sheffield moment, and whilst it may not have much resonance amongst the public, it has most certainly had an effect upon the Conservative Party.
Mr. Brown has made an excellent pretence of being “father of the nation” for the last three months, but the reality is that he is one of the most partisan Prime Ministers in recent times, whose visceral dislike of Tories and Toryism is tangible. He is more than prepared to put the interests of the Labour Party before those of the country, which means that the timing of the election will be purely a matter of party interest.
My attitude to all of this now is: bring it on, if you think you’re hard enough. I am fed up of the uncertainty and the shilly-shallying. Even though Mr. Brown has said little or nothing about the election, it really is now a case of putting up or shutting up.
This evening’s Channel Four News poll puts us only 4 points behind. Is he about to blink?
