On BBC's "Question Time" on Thursday evening, 9th February 2006, Chris Huhne announced that a new opinion poll suggested he was ahead in the leadership contest with Simon Hughes and Menzies Campbell.  Bloggers had been discussing this "lead" prior to Mr Huhne's disclosure. 

Now, another YouGov poll puts a different slant on things according to David Smith in the Sunday Times (12th February 2006).   Mr Hughes appears to be doing well, and Mr Huhne is third.  It all comes down to which poll you want to believe.  Then again, perhaps the previous poll suffered from a skewed or unrepresentative sample...

Leaving aside the damage done to his reputation by the Orpington scale defeat at the Dunfermline by-election, momentum is building (or being built) for Gordon Brown’s succession as Prime Minister.

Mr Brown is, we are led to believe, trusted more than Mr Blair.[1]  He is perceived to be, we are told, a good Chancellor of the Exchequer.[2]  Even if Mr Brown was a better man than Mr Blair, I have difficulty in understanding how he is not tainted with all the errors of judgment, blunders, humbug, spin and most importantly failed policies associated with each New Labour administration since 1997.  He has been a highly influential, important part of the Cabinet when all important decisions were made.  He might distance himself physically from Mr Blair, but he cannot avoid his complicity in New Labour’s failure in office.  He is not in the position of the get-away driver, who complains that he thought his mates were off getting a kebab when in fact they were robbing a bank.  He is actually one of the guys with a sawn- off, shouting at the cashiers, “Give us the money!”[3]

Gordon Brown appears to be “the Man” because Labour spin has been telling us so.  However, spin is now seen for what it really is – a gross distortion of the Truth.  Mr Brown has feet of clay but the politicos cannot see it.[4]  He is not the man to deal with New Labour’s ills.

It is a great irony that the “election” of Gordon Brown might result in what Michael Portillo  believes impossible, that is to say, a clear Conservative victory in the next General Election.