Damian McBride: Brown, Balls and the African Coup

Damian McBride promised that he’d never write a memoir, which I imagine is a relief to Ed Balls who now pretends he had little to do with “Mr McBride”. But now and again, the artist formally known as McPoison uses his blog to reminisce. His posts usually full of honesty and insight and today’s post  is no exception. He has reflected on the “African coup”, when Tony Blair announced, without informing Brown, he would fight a third term.

His blog is worth reading in full. What jumps out at me is how Ed Balls is working hand in glove with McBride, even texting him orders after the Blair announcement: “You’ve got one job – Gordon and everyone around him needs to be totally disciplined about this. Total discipline.” McBride’s concern was how to break the news without Brown hitting the roof, in front of a plane full of journalists.

Gordon: “What’s in the news?” Me: “Hold on.”