Who Dares Wins
Philip Gould is the latest Labour 'insider' to spill the beans about dysfunctional state of the last Labour government - 'led' by Gordon Brown.
Gould was a key player in the rise of New Labour - along with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson - a political strategist famous for his use of focus groups to inform and direct party policy.
Witness the following extract from Philip Gould's new book - 'The Unfinished Revolution: How New Labour changed British Politics for ever'.
May 2007
"We were now getting very close to the handover of power from Blair to Brown. There was of course no Labour leadership election, which was in my view one of New Labour's seminal mistakes. For Gordon to win the public, gain legitimacy, regenerate the party, make the space and the opporutnity to refersh and renew, there simply had to be an election. After Gordon became Prime Minister I lost count of the number of times voters said in focus groups that he was unelected, that he did not have the right to the job. It was a huge error."
Yes it was - as many people believed and said so loudly at the time - but Gordon Brown was never a 'risk taker' - in the mould of Tony Blair, David Cameron or Alex Salmond.
Gordon was a old-fashioned 'machine' politician - used to getting his way by working the system - through loyal acolytes and henchmen - and the backroom support of trade union bosses of course.
Which is the exact opposite of what political leadership is all about - and it proved to be Gordon's undoing in the end.
Brown's fate was sealed when he 'bottled out' of going to the country and calling a general election in the autumn of 2007 - when his popularity was at its height.
After that it was all downhill - with the one time 'Iron Chancellor' clinging to office like grim death - confirming what many in his own party believed all along - that Gordon was simply not up to the top job.
Gould was a key player in the rise of New Labour - along with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson - a political strategist famous for his use of focus groups to inform and direct party policy.
Witness the following extract from Philip Gould's new book - 'The Unfinished Revolution: How New Labour changed British Politics for ever'.
May 2007
"We were now getting very close to the handover of power from Blair to Brown. There was of course no Labour leadership election, which was in my view one of New Labour's seminal mistakes. For Gordon to win the public, gain legitimacy, regenerate the party, make the space and the opporutnity to refersh and renew, there simply had to be an election. After Gordon became Prime Minister I lost count of the number of times voters said in focus groups that he was unelected, that he did not have the right to the job. It was a huge error."
Yes it was - as many people believed and said so loudly at the time - but Gordon Brown was never a 'risk taker' - in the mould of Tony Blair, David Cameron or Alex Salmond.
Gordon was a old-fashioned 'machine' politician - used to getting his way by working the system - through loyal acolytes and henchmen - and the backroom support of trade union bosses of course.
Which is the exact opposite of what political leadership is all about - and it proved to be Gordon's undoing in the end.
Brown's fate was sealed when he 'bottled out' of going to the country and calling a general election in the autumn of 2007 - when his popularity was at its height.
After that it was all downhill - with the one time 'Iron Chancellor' clinging to office like grim death - confirming what many in his own party believed all along - that Gordon was simply not up to the top job.
