It was supposed to have been the speech of his life. It was his chance to [try and] steal back to limelight and the political impetus - and, most importantly, end speculation about his future.
He needed a speech that would be seen a a great success seen by loyalist and rebel MPs alike, as well as the party faithful and the media.
Did it work?
Well… not really.
Apart from one good line - “everyone knows that I’m all in favour of apprenticeships, but let me tell you this is not a time for a novice” - it appears to have been seen as an “ok” speech. Not that good, not that bad.
Good enough to prevent an immediate coup, but not good enough to end the speculation once and for all. Pretty much an IDS speech - enough to remove the knives from his back for now, but not for long. Especially since they still have to fight the Glenrothes by-election before too long.
That is where the crunch-point will be reached. If Labour win, Brown will be safe. If Labour lose, they have a choice - keep Brown and face a 1997-style landslide or elect a new leader and hope to lose less badly - or maybe even pull a victory out of the hat. But at what cost?
Image nicked from Political Betting
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[...] little breathing space that speech won for him has now all but been wiped out. So the Glenrothes by-election - as reports set the date [...]
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[...] little breathing space that speech won for him has now all but been wiped out. So the Glenrothes by-election - as reports set the date [...]
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[...] no actually, he didn’t. That particular narrative was set up by Brown himself with his conference speech, when he spoke the [...]
