A fine line between love and hatred for Peter Mandelson
Peter Hoskin 11:58am
So far as Downing Street is concerned, this morning's Sunday Times cover is a presentational nightmare. It reports that Peter Mandelson is calling on Brown to make him Foreign Secretary – a move which would create all kinds of internal difficulties for the PM. Sounds a little bizarre to me: we all know that Mandelson would, in theory, like the role which was once occupied by his grandfather, but would he really want it under such controversial circumstances and for what would likely be only six months? Perhaps not. But, true or no', it still feeds into the idea that the government is divided and self-obsessed.
It's also the kind of story which could loosen Mandelson's grip on the government. Over the past year he's enjoyed a remarkable renaissance within the Labour Party. Many Labour types you speak to now regard him as some sort of folk hero; someone who returned, and who has strived, for the good of the party. But claims like those made this morning might act to burst that bubble. As one Labour acquaintance of mine put it: "If this is true, then it's all been a sham – he's just as vain as ever." Take it as a reminder of how fine the divide is between love and hatred for our Business Secretary.
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Michael Booth
November 22nd, 2009 12:20pm Report this commentWelcome to the Eighteenth Century. Sir Robert Walpole-Brown (motto: "Let sleeping Labour Lie") and his Ministry of All the Talent(less) appoints His Grace the Duke of Omnium to the Foreign Secretaryship (doubtless to prevent the leaking of the dodgy dossier on Brown which His Grace has locked away in the safe of his spanking new mansion). Elections? Accountability? Morality? Odds fish Sir, who gives a toss for the great unwashed!
Moraymint
November 22nd, 2009 12:29pm Report this commentIs anyone actually governing the country?
The Laughing Cavalier
November 22nd, 2009 12:30pm Report this commentHe got what he wanted, he's in the House of Lords.
chris as usual
November 22nd, 2009 12:39pm Report this commentIf there was ever an example of anyone who doesn't give a s**t about anything or anybody but himself it is this man.
Even if he managed to bring about some amazing election result for Labour then where would we be?
Brown has made a serious error by bringing this man back from oblivion. He knows it - what a scenario to finish up with.
Holly ......
November 22nd, 2009 12:39pm Report this commentSpider solitaire(four suits)IS a lot more mentally challenging than any silly games Mandelson wishes to play.
Hope he knocks banana man out of his position.
Poor lad....never saw that coming did he....welcome to Mandyland...sucker.
Taipei Exile
November 22nd, 2009 1:14pm Report this commentGood to see you working hard to keep us entertained on a Sunday Pete.
Mike Brighton
November 22nd, 2009 1:36pm Report this commentAs you say. Never forget Peter's world class vanity. A Tory mp told me that it did for him twice. Once with Geoffrey Robinson and then the Hinduja brothers. It has raised many questions over his relationship with that nice Mr. Deripaska and it will almost certailnly do for him again if he cannot keep it in check. Please note that normal people and cabinet ministers rarely wear Patek Phillipe watches worth some £25,000
Frank Leader
November 22nd, 2009 1:43pm Report this commentOh dear it makes me feel all queer!
In2minds
November 22nd, 2009 2:35pm Report this commentMandelson - “Many Labour types you speak to now regard him as some sort of folk hero”; in London perhaps.
In my part of the UK his name still generates a shudder.
Cardinal Richelieu's Mole
November 22nd, 2009 2:41pm Report this comment6 months is 6 months and it makes all the difference in the world between having achieved the ambition and forever after being known as “the former Foreign Secretary” and not. Look how it gave Owen a veneer of substance.
Is pushing Blair’s Euro-Presidency candidacy now understandable? It would fail, but the consolation prize of Euro-Foreign Minister was the UK’s, to then be taken by a compliant Miliband, thereby leaving a vacancy reluctantly to be filled for the good of the nation and the party.....
Boudicca
November 22nd, 2009 3:03pm Report this commentI'd love to hear Hillary Clinton's description of Lord Putrid ....
"Oooooh .... he's so intelligent in a machieavellian sort of way. So slimy and repulsive; so obviously untrustworthy; so obviously obsessed with wealth and privilege; so egotistical. If he wasn't gay, I could get sooooooo excited at the prospect of working with him"
Tanuki
November 22nd, 2009 3:53pm Report this commentTBH I really wish Brown would appoint Mandelson as something sacrificially useful - like ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Colin
November 22nd, 2009 4:07pm Report this comment"but would he really want it under such controversial circumstances"
This is a man who was kicked out of government, twice, for corruption. I really don't think he gives a sh!t what the circumstances are...
What is more interesting is the fact that this creature is given any time at all, by anyone.
Snowman
November 22nd, 2009 4:51pm Report this commentThere ought to be a blanket reporting ban on this repulsive creature throughout the media.
A J Scott
November 22nd, 2009 5:36pm Report this commentDifficult to know which end of Mandelson ejects the more repulsive output.
That is my polite comment.
How did we ever get to the stage of such a repellent, corrupt unelected unrepresentative person wielding such power? He really must have something truly dreadful on G Brown and others in the Labour Party, to be able to carry on like this.
His grandfather was of course of a generation in the Labour Party which fully believed in the end justifying the means, and that the Communist Party of Stalin was the best thing since (and before) sliced bread.
Victor Southern
November 22nd, 2009 6:00pm Report this commentSurely Mandelson could be Foreign Secretary whilst still holding down his 9 other jobs? That would save us money since Milibands can only do one thing at a time. On second thoughts isn't Junior on both sides of the green spectrum at once?
mac
November 22nd, 2009 6:46pm Report this commentBevin had the egregious Morrison bang to rights.
Seems no one of any standing in the contemporary Labour Party is willing to call the loathsome amasser-of-titles.
That speaks volumes about the comrades and Mandelson, of course.
Hysteria
November 22nd, 2009 8:03pm Report this commentBut Moray - what makes you thing the Government actually "govern"?
Like any large organisation the mission is lost behind a scren of back-stabbing, career positioning, advancement of agendas etc..,
General Zod
November 22nd, 2009 8:06pm Report this commentThe Tories should promise an investigation of the sources of Mandelson's wealth. There'd be votes in it.
Vulture
November 23rd, 2009 7:13am Report this commentNo fine line between love & hate on this board! But Mrs Robert Harris assures me that he's a sweetie who never fails to help with the washing-up - which is why she made him the Godfather to one of her kids. Presumably the sort of Godfather who would leave the gift of a horse's head at the bottom of the poor child's bed.
Amadeus Plonquer
November 23rd, 2009 7:43am Report this commentGeneral Zod. I think it's disingenious of you to suggest an enquiry into Lord Mandelbum's finances. All it will find is that he's Labour through and through and he makes his money the old fashioned Labour way. He steals it.
Dorothy Wilson
November 23rd, 2009 10:22am Report this commentA Foreign Secretary in the House of Lords? And Labour is supposed to be the people's party!
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