F

rom Chapt
er16:Dome
sti
cRe
for
m

G
Cha
or
nc e
donha
l l
or,a
de nor
ndbyne
mouss
a
rlya
uppor
l
la
twi
sas t
r
thi
nthepa
ongone
rt
ya
.Whe
ndt
ni t
’
heme
ssaidt
di
ha
a.Hewa
tIshoul
sre
dha
gar
de
vesa
dbyma
ckedhi
nyasagr
m,orde
e
a
mot
t
edhim,
thi
sta ke snoa ccountofthef actthathadIdones o,thepa r
tya ndthegovernmentwouldha vebe enseverel
y
andimme diat
elyde st
abil
ised,andhi sascenttotheoffi
ceofpr imemi nist
erwouldprobablyhavebe ene ven
fas
ter.By2004,butpos siblywe llbefor
et hen,t
heme dia–l ef
ta ndri
ght–woul dhaveinsist
edt hatIhad
act
eds pitef
ullya ndwrongl y.I
tise asytos a
ynow,int helightofhistenureaspri
memi niste
r,thatIshould
haves toppe dit;attheti
met ha
twoul dhavebe e
nwe llnighimpos si
ble.Iwouldhavehadba rel
ya nys upport
inanyi nfl
uentialquart
erf ordoings o;ands omeofthosemos tc ri
ti
calofGordonnow,we resingingaqui te
dif
ferentt unethe n.

Howe ve
r,t
hatisnotther
eas
onIdi dn’tdoit
.IfIhaddeci
dedhereal
lywasunf itt
oremainasChanc
ell
orI
wouldhavedis
mi s
s e
dhim,evenifithadhast
enedmyowndi smis
sal.Myf ai
luretodosowasnotalac
kof
coura
ge.Norwa sitsi
mplyaboutma nagi
ngac ompl
exsit
uat
ion.I
twa sbe
c auseIbeli
eve
d,despi
tei
tal
l,
despi
temyownf eeli
ngsatt
ime s
,thathewasthebestChanc
ell
orforthecountry.

Iforme dt hisjudgeme ntfortwor easons.First

,justasduringthetimewhe nGor dons hel
teredbenea
thmy
umbr el
laa spr imemi nist
erthebe nignvi e
wofhi m wasmi sgui
de dinhisfavour,sonowi tismisgui
dedt
o
underestima tehishuges t
r e
ngths.Thet ruthisthateverytimeIc onside
r e
dwhomi ghtrepla
c ehim,I
conclude dhewa ssti
llthebe s
tfort hejob.Hega vethegove r
nme ntballa
st,soli
dityands tr
ength.Manyof
hisinterventionswe r
ee xc e
lle
nt,es pecia
llyatani nt
ernat
ionalle
ve l
.Athi sbe s
t,hisintel
lectandener
gy
we r
eva s tandbe nef
icialtothecount ry.Whe n,some t
imei n2001,Ithink,therewa stalkofhi mtaki
ngan
int
ernationa ljobofsomede scr
iption,Irefle
c t
eda nddecidedthegove rnme ntwouldbewe akerandnot
str
onge rwi thouthim.

La t
er,whenIr a
nt hroughpos
sibl
er e
placement
s,Ist
il
lbumpedupa gai
nstthesameuncomf
orta
blebut–I
thought–incontrovert
ibl
e–reali
ty.Hewa sheadandshoul
der
sabovetheot he
rs.Onlyt
owa
rdstheveryend
didthethoroughgoingNe wLabourpe opl
estar
ttoemergewhohads uf
fi
cie
nts eni
ori
tya
ndexperi
enc
et o
havet a
kenhispla ce
.

Thes econdr easonwa sthat

,thoughGor donr esist
edma nyoft here f
ormsa ndsloweds omeoft hem down,
hedi dn’tpr eventthem.Wedi dthem.Byt het i
meIl eft,choi cea ndc ompe tit
ionwe r
ee mbeddedi nt he
NHS;a cademi e
swe r
epowe ringahe ad;thec rimebi ll
sha dpa ssed;tuit
ionf eeswe r
einpl ac
e;andwe lf
a r
e
andpe nsi
onr ef
ormswe reformul at
e d,ifnoti ntroduced.The sewe ren’tsma llit
ems.The ywe r
ema jor
cha nges.Int hefinalanalys
ishes uppor t
e dt he m.Hewoul dn’tha vei ni
tiat
edt hem;butwhe nitc amet othe
crunc h,hewe ntalong.Theygott hrough. Andhe r
einliesal ess on.Therei sar eas
on,apartfr
om t he
principaloneofNe wLa bour,whyt hegove rnme ntIledwa sthef i
rstLa bourgove r
nme nttowine vent wo
succ essi
vef ullterms,le
ta l
onet hr
ee ;andwhyi tgoverne df ormor ethandoubl ethelengthofthepr e vious
longe st-
servingLa bourgove rnment.Thi si st hepa r
ttha teve nmyc l
osestadvi s
ersneverunderstood;buta s
Ius edt oteasethe m,thesejudgeme ntsar ewhyI ’mthel ea dera ndyou’ renot !

Ult
imate
ly,t
hought
herel
ent
les
spers
onalpr
ess
urefr
om Gor
donwaswe
ari
ng,ita
ctua
llyt
roubl
edmef a
r
l
esstha
nthey(orpe
rha
pshe)everr
eal
is
ed.Anditwasi
nma nywa
ysaf
arles
stoxica
ndde a
dlyoppos
it
ion
t
hanmighthavebee
nthecas
e.

Be causeGordonwa sthestandard-
bearerf ordis
s ent
,hisba nnertheonet owhicht heinte
rnalcri
tics
na t
ural
lyga t
hered,thenaturalopposit
iont hatprogressi
vepol it
icsal
wa yscontainswa skeptwithinbounds .
Puthi m outandoneoft wot hingswoul dha veha ppened:eitherhewoul dhavebe eninapos it
ion,andl ong
be f
oretenye ar
s,tomountas uccess
fulc halle
nge( oratleastac hal
lengethatwoul dhavebe enterminalin
itsconsequences);oranotherbanner,proba bl
ymor etothel ef
t,poss
iblymor ede s
truct
ivetothepa r
ty’
s
long-te
rm healt
h,woul dha vea r
ise
n.Ic amet othec onclusionthathavinghimi nsideandc onst
raine
dwa s
be t
tert
ha noutsi
dea ndletlooseor,wor se,becomi ngthefigureheadofaf armor eda magingforcewe l
lt o
theleft
.

Sowashedif
fi
cul
t,a
ttimesma ddeni
ng?Ye
s.Buthewa
sal
sos
trong,c
apa
blea
ndbr
il
li
ant
,andt
hos
ewe
re
qua
lit
iesf
orwhi
chIneverlos
trespect
.

TonyBl
air2010