welcome back

I'm very much enjoying calling myself a Labour supporter at the moment; it's been such a long time since I've felt happy to describe myself in that way, but recent events and the purging of Tony Blair have - and I have to be careful not to tempt fate here - done a lot to bring me back in to the fold. I'm still cautious about a number of things, but overall the feel of the party under Gordon Brown seems transformed. And weirdly, although Cameron seems capable of besting his opponent at PMQs, where he struggled against Blair, somehow the new Prime Minister makes him look more insubstantial, rather than less. Against Blair Cameron looked weedy, but at least a reflection of something successful. With Blair banished, and cast against Brown, Cameron seems utterly featherweight, all of his Blairite affectation making him look, well, pathetic. Even when he beats Brown he ends up looking bad, crowing and jubilant as if he has no idea that he will likely be crushed at the next election regardless. If he needs bringing down to earth, of course, he might want to take a look at last night's by-election results. Third in both Ealing Southall and Sedgefield. This is probably not the next party of government.