Politics

Here’s how Gordon Brown could sweep Middle Britain off its feet and win next time

19 May 2007

A large part of his change is stylistic. It is rumoured that his aides have littered little ‘smiley’ stickers throughout his paperwork, and inside his car, reminding him to grin at every occasion. If true, this technique seems to be working. He has beamed his way through most of the past few days, grinning beatifically even as he tells us yet again about the ‘moral compass’ which his parents apparently bequeathed to him. His only political chore has been to bat away a kamikaze challenge from Labour’s left.

But soon he will embark on a broader, more urgent task: to reach out to the former Conservative voters whom Mr Blair wooed in the 1990s. It may seem a tall order for a man who has become synonymous with tax raids and who, unlike the Prime Minister, neither looks nor talks like a Tory. But as the Brownites prepare to present their man to Middle England (which Mr Brown famously seems to think is a place where his wife comes from) they will be able to dust down several sides to his character which may justifiably appeal to right-leaning voters.

Take his control freakery. While irritating to certain Whitehall mandarins and many a Cabinet minister, it is this trait which led him to prevent early entry to the euro — at a time when Mr Blair was wittering on about the singe currency being Britain’s ‘destiny’. He likes power — yet greater integration with the EU involves surrendering power. He loves detail, and the project of ‘ever-closer union’ depends on ministers overlooking detail. He is a natural born Eurosceptic.

Next, his ‘Stalinist’ tendencies. It is worth remembering that Mr Brown was accused of having these by Lord Turnbull, the former Cabinet secretary, who was discussing his brutal efficiency at getting what he wants. ‘You cannot help admire the sheer Stalinist ruthlessness of it all,’ he said; however back-handed and grudging, this was a compliment of sorts. And a bit of Stalinism would strike a favourable contrast from the drift of the Blair years. The Chancellor discovered, as Lady Thatcher did, that being brutal with the Civil Service is often the only way to get things done.

Mr Brown is also unlikely to increase tax on the rich. His grasp of statistics, if not his visceral politics, has allowed him to see the futility of discouraging high earners. When asked at a Fabian Society debate on Saturday whether he would tax City bonuses, his response was fascinating. When Labour came to power, the wealthiest tenth contributed 40 per cent of the income tax haul, he said. Now, this has risen to 50 per cent. He has found, as George W. Bush did, that the rich shoulder more of the burden if incentivised to earn more.