Could Clarke he be the one to whom they hand the gun?
December 23rd, 2007
How big a threat would he be to Brown if things don’t improve?
Within Labour Charles Clarke is the one big beast who is still active and who still has the power to wound, if not kill. There’s not a single member of Brown’s cabinet who comes anywhere near to Clarke when it comes to the ability to communicate and put forward a compelling case. He’s lucid, has good diction and has the ability to think on his feet. When he says things he commands attention.
In the unlikely event of him every becoming leader Clarke would tower over Cameron and is probably the party figure best suited to taking the wind out of the Tory leader’s sails.
He was one of the few Labour MPs not to nominate Gordon and is the only “big beast” to go on the record with criticism of the party leader. If there was ever to be a coup attempt then Clarke would surely be part.
During the week the former home secretary launched a series of broadsides against the leadership and he pulled no punches. His most biting points were on Brown’s failure to support his key people and the PM’s use of the illegal BJ4BW term. (British Jobs for British Workers).
A big concern of Clarke’s is the morale of the party the signs of a breakdown in the relationship between Number 10 and key Cabinet ministers.
So what does 2008 hold for him? If Labour continues to poll badly could he be become the main focus of discontent or is it possible that he could come to an arrangement with Brown whereby he had a major role?
It’s hard to see Clarke accepting a job where he could be micro-managed by Brown. He will be interesting to watch.
Amazingly he is not on the list of runners in Betfair’s “next PM” betting market
Mike Smithson
MessageSpace Advertising
I’m more surprised John Hutton isn’t on that Beyfair list. A Clarke premiership seems a little fanciful to me by this point.
In the unlikely event that there was a coup against Stalin, I think Johnson might be the man to take over. Kept his head down recently…
I agree with both the above posts, but frankly neither they nor Clarke have anything approaching the body of support required to mount such a rebellion.
I believe by far the most likely reason for Brown leaving office will be that he simply can’t hack it as the probles mount up, i.e. he decides to jack it and/or for some other health/family reasons.
I’m not sure how Mike can make the bald assumption that he, Clarke, “would tower over Cameron”, when clearly Brown most assuredly does not.
The one thing Brown should be doing right now after a gruelling first six months as PM, is to fly off to Barbados and get some sun on his back. Are you taking heed Mr. Richard?
But of course he wont.
Probably off to “Raith” instead to watch the Rovers!
Peter Hain is the real threat. His resignation from the government at some point next year could be the trigger for a leadership contest. Unless of course Labour reduces the Tory poll lead, in which case Cameron’s position would once again be in question and Brown would be safe.
his majority is 3600, more than halved at the last election. Labour would never be stupid enough to vote in some from such a fragile seat
Clarke’s record: top-up fees, ID cards and restrictions on civil liberties. A gift not just to LibDems but also to David Davis as Shadow Home Secretary. Oh, and foreign prisoner scandals. Hardly a clean break from Labour’s present woes!
Isn’t Clarke a mate of Alan Milburn, another name that has recently popped up in these speculations? Are these the two who lead the 17?
“Moral of the party” or “morale of the party”? Both seem to be lacking at the moment…
re 8. Thanks.
Charles Clark? A towering figure? Are you kidding?
The Sun has him as a Gnome… I remember him as a joke… Mrs Electorate see the jug ears and double chin, grey stubble tramp look.
Hardly the tall dark stranger to sweep Mrs Electorate off her feet.
9 re typos — you might check both paragraphs in bold.
No chance of this. Clarke has made few friends, and bruised a lot of people - from his time as Neil Kinnock’s chief of staff onwards. He is very talented, a big thinker and good on policy. But the volatiltiy of his temperament. sometimes after a glass of wine or two, is a major issue. For example, his pre-transition outburst about Gordon Brown was not planned or calculated. I know that he was telling colleagues he was planning to stick to ideas and policy, and steer clear of personalities, and would resist attempts to goad him into personal comments.
Alan Johnson’s joke about charm offensives on tuition fees - ‘I did the charm and Charles was offensive’ - captured a lot of the truth. He lacks the personal skills and relationships either to get the leadership or to run a party as leader. In large part, it is CC’s inability to suffer fools gladly. And he does not think many at all are at his own level.
If there is a book for who gets Mandelson’s job, Charles C would be a strong candidate for Brussels.
Clarke is not a “big beast” he would not “tower over” Brown let alone Cameron and as for “commands attention” where exactly? He’s yesterdays man. Gordon the bogey picker laid low by Fungus the Bogeyman…snot going to happen.
New thread - Do governments always recover in the polls?
I thought Clarke was actually one of the more liberal Home Secretaries amongst the chattering classes - hence all that bizarre ‘mea culpa’ soul-searching from the New Statesman after they brought him down.
IF Charles Clarke became PM, it would be like his namesake Kenneth Clark becoming leader of the Conservative Party
And as likely.
I don’t know anyone in the Labour Party that takes Charles Clarke seriously anymore. He lost a lot of friends in his drunken Telegraph interview in September 2006 in which he heavily criticised Brown just after the ministerial resignations. In my dealings with his I’ve found him incredibly rude, arrogant and obnoxious. This is a view shared by a number of people I know who have worked with him and I can’t see him ever effectively wounding Brown. The only people that could ‘hurt’ Brown in the way you descibe Mike are Jack Straw or David Miliband.
Check the title for typos as well!
Can’t see it happening, but Clarke reminds me of Blair - however much I disagreed with the man, and I did, he always seemed convinced of the argument he was making. Brown just doesn’t do sincerity in the same way.
12 He’s been heavily tipped for that. But GB is hardly going to nominate CC if he carries on like this
Yes.
If Clarke garners any support within the PLP it would be a huge turn around from last spring when Clarke was desperately trying to conjure up support for a leadership bid against Gordon. He simply didn’t have enough followers. He’s hardly the man to unite a broken party if they’ve ditched Brown. Mike’s other point that Brown may have to give him a role doesn’t necessarily follow either. Brown’s acolytes can respond to the Clarke challenge by labelling him a Blairite outrider continuation movement lunatic.
21 No but he could do an Anthony Meyer. In other words if a large vote for CC would surely open the door for Johnson, Denham, Miliband, even Straw et al to step forward if they wish
Fungus for PM…
23.
lol.
Can’t see a pic of Clarke without being reminded of the whoary old joke about how french tarts hold their liquor…
He also manages to look a total pistolier even in his soberest poses. Shrek with high blood pressure.
19. Brown may well want to appoint Clarke to the EU Commission, even if he carries on like this.
It is a senior role, in line with his interests, and where he is capable of doing it, and demonstrating that GB will be generous to a rival.
And it sends him into exile, removing probably the more credible of the three Blairite musketeers - Milburn, Byers, Clarke.
GB may want a Commissioner who would do his bidding, as CC would not. But am not sure he cares so much about that, or the EU more generally.