The Mandy factor

When Gordon Brown appointed Peter Mandelson to his Cabinet he may have grabbed the newspaper headlines, but the general sentiment was: be careful Prime Minister, this could backfire.  Already, Mandy’s return has prompted the whole Yachtgate scandal. And now the media have turned their attention to the recently-ennobled one’s links with Oleg Deripaska, Brown must be even more worried about what will emerge next.  The expectation that there’s more to come is reflected in a Politics Home poll of 100 Westminster insiders today – in which only 42 percent of respondents think that Mandelson will stay in his job until the next election.  So what do CoffeeHousers’ think: is this yet another potential blot on our PM’s horizon?

P.S. The other results from that Politics Home poll are worth highlighting.  After Yachtgate, only 63 percent of respondents think George Osborne will last until the next election.  Gordon Brown scores 94 percent.  How things change…