Brown is neither feared nor loved

When David Miliband wrote his infamous Guardian piece and then further stoked the controversy with a series of provocative media appearances many of us expected the Brownites to knee-cap him. After all, vicious party in-fighting is what they do best. But the Brownites—reportedly because of Stephen Carter’s intervention—backed away. At this point, the air of almost physical menace that surrounded the Brownites evaporated.

Maintaining discipline within the Labour party has consequently become far harder. No one now fears the consequences of speaking out in the way they once did. (It was once seriously put to me that Charles Clarke was prepared to stand up to Brown because his belly acted as a physical buffer zone between him and Brown).  

The danger for Brown is that he neither feared nor loved by most of his Cabinet colleagues. As Iain Martin points out, one can count on the fingers on one hand the number of Cabinet ministers who would fight with all their heart for Gordon.