Who do you think would be best to replace Brown as Labour Leader?

[The Merry Prankster]

Who do I think would be best to replace Brown as Labour Leader? Nobody.

Labour IS Gordon Brown.


.

Then they are f***ed.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

But regardless of all that, does he really to suck up to Daily Mail? Such as the whole Cannabis business..

Sorry, never read the Daily Mail, so can't possibly comment

But Tony B.Liar HAD to suck up to the Daily Mail and appeal to their readership to get Labour elected. Pathetic but true. Lucky it came completely naturally to him

Don't come naturally to Gordon Brown. He's a charming man if you are ever lucky enough to see him at close non-political quarters, much more a Son Of The Manse than a career politician. And that may well be his downfall. But like the famous saying goes: 'All Political Careers End In Failure'. In the end, he's an honest, decent and truthful kind of bloke, and if that's not enough for middle England, then f*** 'em, they'll get the snake-oil salesmen government they deserve.

 

[Gully]

Didn't John Smith almost single-handedly lose the '92 election?

Labour were still pretty much unelectable at that stage, I was thinking more whether the whole "new Labour" idea perpetuated by Tony Blair would ever have come about.

 

[dougdeep]

He's a charming man if you are ever lucky enough to see him at close non-political quarters, much more a Son Of The Manse than a career politician. And that may well be his downfall. But like the famous saying goes: 'All Political Careers End In Failure'. In the end, he's an honest, decent and truthful kind of bloke.

Yes, but he is a Scot.

 

[1234andcounting]

Someone of integrity, decency, inspirational leadership, deep and profound insight, sound managerial skills, great charisma.

Step forward and take up thy rightful post, Withdean Wanderer.

 

[Haydn-4]

Myself, Do you want my Manifesto now or later?

 

[Brian Fantana]

The best thing would be for Scotland to get independence and for Gordon to trot off into the sunset and leave the English to run England.

 

[beorhthelm]

But don't expect things to get any better on the credit crunch front, or the fuel price front or the energy price front. cos these are global forces and mostly beyond the control of the UK government.

Tony Blair got lucky on that front, as did Gordon Brown to a certain extent as chancellor, but the global forces are causing most of the current problems.

the problem for Labour is they not only rode that wave for so long but they always played down the wider economics and played up their prudence and wise stewardship. they claimed the success as of their own making. so now, when they blame the wider economics, it sounds rather like they are shirking responsibility.

and all the investment, as great as that it is, was paid for on the tick. just like the home owners who remortgaged for ever more higher prices to buy a new car, go on holiday or fit a new kitchen, Labour spent like it would last forever in a magical "economic cycle" that aparently never ended. but it has, as it would do, as thats the nature of a cycle. now the cupboard is bare and people are noticing that half the money went on areas other than front line services so are feeling a bit short changed.

Labour didnt plan for the inevitable slowdown. the credit crunch and fuel price inflation are just the triggers for point of the cycle that was aways going to happen. rather than gently easing spending, curbing expectations for the last 2-3 years, they kept up a pace that could never be sustained. Prudent my arse.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

It's actually a difficult call for senior Labour politicians.

Firstly there is no obvious successor and it looks (certainly at the moment) that they will lose with GB in charge.

So what does any potential successor do? Put his or herself forward now, and even if they become leader does this guarantee them winning the next General Election? Certainly not; in my opinion, Labour will probably lose whoever is in charge. In the UK elections are lost by people voting against Governments rather than for Opposition and I think most people feel the time for change. The Tories have at least restored confidence in them to the point where people think they can't be any worse than the current Government.

If I were a potential successor I would keep my head down, declare my loyalty to GB and then hold my breath and if Labour do indeed lose then GB can take most of the blame. The new leader can then be elected in the aftermath and GB can return to the back benches, and a very unhappy bunny he will be there too!

 

[bigc]

If I were a potential successor I would keep my head down, declare my loyalty to GB and then hold my breath and if Labour do indeed lose then GB can take most of the blame. The new leader can then be elected in the aftermath and GB can return to the back benches, and a very unhappy bunny he will be there too!

Excellent point and one I wholeheartedly agree with. A strong Miliband in opposition untainted by defeat could provide a serious opposition to Cameron, something we rarely saw during the Blair or Thatcher era and which could allow Labour to bounce back quickly as opposed to being stuck with legacy of past failures

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Didn't John Smith almost single-handedly lose the '92 election?

No , the newspapers and the media swung it for the Tories right at the last moment , voters bottled it over the last 3 days of the election campaign and we ended up with another 5 years of despair. John Smith was certainly a better prospect of becoming PM than Neil Pillock , and Michael Foot ( a brilliant politician and dedicated socialist but who was likened to a tramp ) . Interestingly enough Kinnock went on to further his political career with a gravy train job as an EU commissioner as at the time he was vehemently opposed to being elevated to the Lords. He changed his mind after his time at the EU and took a peerage.


A thread on NSC next year or in 2010 will follow along the same lines as the above quote , except it will read " Didn't Gordon Brown almost single-handedly lose the '09 ('10) election?

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Nigel Mansell

Mansell is a communist.

 

[perseus]

Any Englishmen on the firm?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Mansell is a communist.

I always though that he was BNP

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

me....

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

When Labour got elected in 1997 they said the Tories had built up mountains of debt , they then claimed they had balanced the books (the 1st time in over 200 years) after a short period and in fact there was a surplus , so everybody felt good. It soon became apparent that all the money being invested in the NHS and other services was being wasted on bureaucracy at all levels. People working in the public sector are being screwed by pay restraints kept below the inflation figure and trouble looms on the horizon. A theory doing the rounds at the moment is that following a Tory victory , house prices will rise again due to the financial institutions having a greater faith in Tory policies than what we have at the moment.

 

[User removed 4]

Who do I think would be best to replace Brown as Labour Leader? Nobody.

Labour IS Gordon Brown.

If that don't suit Middle-England then tough shit, vote in a Tory government to destroy the NHS, reverse investment in the transport network, and - given half a chance - get rid of the minimum wage.

But don't expect things to get any better on the credit crunch front, or the fuel price front or the energy price front. cos these are global forces and mostly beyond the control of the UK government.

Tony Blair got lucky on that front, as did Gordon Brown to a certain extent as chancellor, but the global forces are causing most of the current problems. But, heigh-ho, maybe people just want a change of party for the sake of it, despite the Tories appearing to have very very little in the way of a positive vision for the future.

Fair enough, the blame can be laid at the PM's door for the 10p tax fiasco. That's been acknowledged as a mistake, which is currently trying to be put right. But no way does Gordon Brown deserve the kicking he's currently getting.

oh yes he does, the past ten years benign economic conditions in this country have happened largely in spite of gordon brown not because of him , he singlehandedly wrecked the best private pension scheme in europe with his raid on ACT despite being told by treasury advisers of the likeley effect, and he has spunked billions "investing" in public services without the necessary reforms to improve efficiency without which the money has been wasted,the man is a buffoon.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I can't BELIEVE how uninformed some people on NSC are.

Didn't John Smith almost single-handedly lose the '92 election?

No. The great John Smith didn't lose the '92 election. He only became Labour leader AFTER the election.

 

[vulture]

In an ideal world, I would love to have seen Robin Cook as PM. Such a clever politician as him could have easily made Cameron seem lightweight!

A great loss.

Would still in his current state make a better pm than brown