Peter Mandelson is regarded as the ultimate Blairite. And certainly in terms of personal loyalty few match up to him. Despite Blair sacking him twice, Mandelson was still his most articulate defender in the various TV retrospectives on the Blair era. Mandelson even called Blair before accepting Gordon Brown’s offer of a seat in the Lords and a return to the cabinet.
But John Rentoul in his Independent on Sunday column made the crucial point that “Mandelson is not a political philosopher; he is an operator.” The same instincts that led Mandelson to move Labour to the centre on economics now seem to be persuading him to move Labour to the left on the economy. (Although, it is worth noting how welfare reform, immigration and bashing the human rights acts have all been used this week to try and stop the Labour is lurching to the left narrative from gaining momentum).
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