Get it together Gordon

Since the whole 10p tax band withdrawal and the local elections fall out, Labour truly is in the unenviable position that most parties at the end of their term find themselves in. Gordon Brown is a man ill at ease with the modern process of PR and engaging with the media cycle. He is not a man of sound bites, more of substance.  The media is picking away at his eyes like a rabid vulture and his response is to hit back with packages to bewitch the electorate. Today he has offered to help family finances as he outlined his legislative programme for next year.  Beleaguered Brown pledged more help for first-time buyers, a savings scheme for eight million low earners and more flexible working rights for parents. But in truth, if Labour is going to use the next two years to try to regain their popularity, then they need to find a new leader to connect with the public.

Today’s speech was overshadowed by headlines about Gordon Brown possibly a judge on an Apprentice style programme.  Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, unwittingly let it slip that producers have approached the PM to act as a judge on the proposed programme provisionally entitled “Junior PM”, claiming that Gordon Brown could become more popular than Alan Sugar.  Come on guys, make your mind up, are you going to play the role of straight dispatch box politician, passionately inspiring the nation, or represent cheap PR tricks that run against Brown’s core values?