Politics | 6 June 2009

Little wonder that Gordon Brown is gravely concerned about the state of British democracy. Labour’s poll rating has this week hit a (new) postwar low — and that was before Thursday’s elections. As the Prime Minister waits in misery for the final results on Sunday he may be tempted to recall the satirical words of Bertolt Brecht: ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to dissolve the people and elect another in their place?’ But Brown will go one better. He intends to change Britain’s constitutional system: the rules of the game, so to speak.

His plan for a National Council for Democratic Renewal deserves to be taken seriously. No matter how pitiful a figure Mr Brown strikes in Number 10, he still has the power — in theory, at least — to enact whatever reform he wishes. He has, in this case, a strong motive to do so. To survive in Number 10 he must argue, however implausibly, that anger and contempt for the system in general has simply become focused upon the governing party specifically. This is not a rejection of Labour, he must argue, but an instruction to clean up politics.

Admittedly, he has a point. It is undeniable that the voters are dissatisfied with the Westminster system as a whole. David Cameron himself does not claim that his 20-point opinion poll lead reflects an overwhelming nationwide clamour for a Tory government. Cameron’s slogan is ‘Vote for Change’ — but change to what? There is every chance that the Prime Minister will simply impose his own personal blueprint upon Westminster, after declaring that his National Council has successfully intuited the will of the nation.

If the public were truly let in on the debate, they would have plenty to say.