A liability, but one who'll stick around until 2010

Verity

Yes. He is insecure with a huge - some would say well-deserved - inferiority complex and could not take the humiliation of being pushed out by other members of the government. He will stay in charge, damaging the economy and the spirit of Britain, until the voters kick him out. Then he can put it down to the voters' not understanding complex economic issues.

He won't go of his own free will. But his fingers, white from grasping the parapet, may be firmly stepped on by "colleagues".

J H Holloway

Elsewhere on the Blogosphere today, it's been suggested by the pro-Broons that by May 2010, the worst will be over.

No doubt Broon thinks that he will get a massive boost for riding the 'global' problems out - and the Tories will sit shamefaced as the economy ticks along nicely again. That's the best-case, and Broon believes he can ride this out, hence the 'long-term decisions' spiel.

But it also shows that the deep social changes made to the UK by mass migration, education policy and the general hassle of Labour's CCTV and parking-fine mentality have not registered on Labour's radar at all.

Labour base camp over at the Guardian has yet to ask itself why Ken Livingstone is still on course to be defeated. I suggested adding up the huge number of fines handed out by the C-Charge and TFL and then translating that into anti-Ken votes....

So when Labour have let go of our lapels and stopped threatening us, Broon will still have been at the top of politics for an unbroken 13 years.

The brothers should ditch him in May 2009. But Broon will plough on, for the imagined sunshine after the storm in May 2010.

ChrisD

This will be the same group of respondents that thought that Brown would be a great PM I suppose?
To be honest these days, I don't think the political media have anymore of an idea whether Brown will hang around to the bitter end and fight a GE if he knows he is going to lose badly.
If he does, it will be a first for him, he does have a track record of avoiding a real contest unless the outcome is assured.

RW

I think he'll be gone by then. Not willingly, but his peculiar dysfunctional personality, and the impossible demands created by having to interact with other people in a more or less conventional fashion, will make him crack up under the strain. There are already signs. It won't be the grey suits, it'll be the flapping white coats who come for him.

John Page

Yes, he believes in the divine right of Brown. Only large numbers of MPs panicking about their seats can dislodge him.

Who would be Labour's best bet? It's someone they'd never choose in a month of Sundays. The thought of the man of Straw is almost as ridiculous as failed Fatty Clarke. Postman Al could appeal to Labour's core vote, bur he's right to say he's not good enough for the top job.

So who has the 'direct line' to the public? Step forward Frank Field, an excellent Prime Minister we'll never have.

Perry

Yes indeedy, JP. FF - a man of all-too-rare integrity, solid work over a long period, and wide perspective. One of the few politicos that I, at least, would (and have) trusted with gravely important matters.

But (sigh) . . . these qualities would probably stand for little with the current establishment, - and might even be derided.

Oh well, back to dreamland, and ‘fantasy politics’ do you call it?

Phil

If the labour party had any sense they would cull him in May. They now know he is not up to it and never will be. This would be the worst scenario for the tories as labour could pull off a Major 92 type result. They would be mad to risk a youngish leader though.
How to get rid of him though? Illness would be one honourable exit? They do not have to worry about parallels with the Thatcher removal and wake because unlike her even his own most loyal supporters (a la Toynbee) have declared that he is not up to it.
So who steps in as caretaker?
He is no great intellect but he is a shrewd politician -step forward Jack Straw. Do you think those reports of punching Balls were leaked accidentally? No neither do I.

Diana

Brown is so warped in his thinking, he doesn't even think he can't do the job. He has no sense of reality, honesty, practicality.
He's going to hold on, because it doesn't even occur to him to let go. The only way he'll go early is for the Labour party to do a Thatcher on him..

Ron Bradbury

In answer to your question, yes, he will stick around. What the Labour party do not understand though is that the public find this man repellant and will he not get the swing vote. All other voters who know how bad he has been as chancellor will not vote for him and the only votes he will get are the die-hard labour supporters and those that have swallowed the idiotic line that he has been a good chancellor. He wasn't.

Oscar Miller

Frank Field should join Dave's big tent. He is very sound, but not PM material. As for predicting Gordon's future - my head says he will hang on. My instinct tells me some left field embarrassment will force him out. He just has the air of a doomed man. Unfortunately I keep getting horrible premonitions of Labour leader Balls. A nightmare.

HJ

It might, of course, depend on what mechanism there is within the Labour Party to depose its leader when in power. If the mechanism isn't there, he can stay even though he's a liability.

Can anybody enlighten me on this?