End of an Era
So, it ended with a whimper not with a bang.
After a last desperate attempt to cling on to power, Labour was finally forced to admit defeat after 13 long years - and Gordon Brown had no option but to leave No.10.
For people who fought so hard to achieve a Labour victory in the 1997 general election - myself included - it was a day tinged with sadness and disappointment.
A project that started out so well under Tony Blair gradually lost its way - as the government became increasingly out of touch - then arrogant and overbearing.
We ended up with the incredible sight of a Labour government - a Labour government - supporting the Speaker's office in its tawdry efforts to keep the MPs' expenses scandal under wraps.
Most of those who were at the birth of New Labour were present to witness its demise - Gordon Brown, Peter Mandleson and Alistair Campbell - Tony Blair with his usual impeccable timing managed to be otherwise engaged.
Labour's track record is a mixed bag - some good, some bad - but on equal pay the party was truly awful.
We will not now see the new Equality Bill on the statute books - which Labour promised to deliver if returned to office for a fourth term.
But that's no great loss because Labour - both in local and national government - failed to enforce the existing equal pay legislation (Equal Pay Act) that has been on the statue books for forty years - since 1970.
Labour will now be pitched into a period of internal reflection - but honest debate may be a scarce commodity - as the unions flex their muscles and try to install a man with Balls as new party leader.
We live in interesting times.
After a last desperate attempt to cling on to power, Labour was finally forced to admit defeat after 13 long years - and Gordon Brown had no option but to leave No.10.
For people who fought so hard to achieve a Labour victory in the 1997 general election - myself included - it was a day tinged with sadness and disappointment.
A project that started out so well under Tony Blair gradually lost its way - as the government became increasingly out of touch - then arrogant and overbearing.
We ended up with the incredible sight of a Labour government - a Labour government - supporting the Speaker's office in its tawdry efforts to keep the MPs' expenses scandal under wraps.
Most of those who were at the birth of New Labour were present to witness its demise - Gordon Brown, Peter Mandleson and Alistair Campbell - Tony Blair with his usual impeccable timing managed to be otherwise engaged.
Labour's track record is a mixed bag - some good, some bad - but on equal pay the party was truly awful.
We will not now see the new Equality Bill on the statute books - which Labour promised to deliver if returned to office for a fourth term.
But that's no great loss because Labour - both in local and national government - failed to enforce the existing equal pay legislation (Equal Pay Act) that has been on the statue books for forty years - since 1970.
Labour will now be pitched into a period of internal reflection - but honest debate may be a scarce commodity - as the unions flex their muscles and try to install a man with Balls as new party leader.
We live in interesting times.
