Gordon’s one-man show

This will not be a Labour conference. It is Gordon’s one-man show

Fraser Nelson

19 September 2007

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Brown will be father of the nation at Bournemouth

The Prime Minister is, of course, touting honours — of a kind. The positions he offers bring no ermine or titles. But to Tories who have concluded their party will not see power for another eight years, the prospect of advising the government on one’s pet issue is the next best thing to a gong. And this is Mr Brown’s weapon.

So if you want to influence Mr Brown, join the Conservatives — this, at least, is the joke running in the bemused Cabinet. The funny part is that the Prime Minister would not pay a blind piece of notice to what any backbencher, from any party, has to say. Since stepping into No. 10 his aim has been not so much to erect a big tent, but a cross-party marquee. Yet beneath the big canvas there is a much smaller military bivouac, containing a handful of trusted lieutenants.

A year ago, I disclosed the names of an octet of advisers who had, I had been told at the time by one of Mr Brown’s closest aides, ‘authoritative knowledge of Gordon Brown’s personal thoughts, political strategy and policy ideas’. All have been promoted to strategically crucial positions. They are Ed Balls (schools secretary), Ed Miliband (manifesto co-ordinator) Ian Austin (Mr Brown’s parliamentary secretary), Spencer Livermore (No. 10 strategy chief), Sue Nye (gatekeeper), Michael Ellam (official spokesman) and Damian McBride (special adviser). Only one of the original eight has remained at the Treasury — Chris Martin is still its communications chief. As in any great escape movie, one of the officers always gets left behind.

Among the secrets successfully guarded thus far is Brown’s thinking on the date of the next election (don’t confuse off-the-record speculation with any knowledge of what goes on inside the Prime Minister’s capacious brain). Labour’s extraordinarily resilient opinion poll lead suggests that a snap election remains a viable option, despite the shambolic scenes over Northern Rock. But it would be a bold, almost reckless Prime Minister who would go to the country before the deeply unpopular European Union Reform Treaty is ratified next month.