Some years ago a distinguished former editor of this newspaper gave a prescient speech about the two politicians then running Britain’s Treasury. Good Gordon, he observed, was forever jostling with Bad Brown about the direction of economic policy. His audience, as I recall, was left to decide as to which of these two characters would ultimately triumph.

As Gordon Brown marks the first anniversary of his premiership, the nation’s voters seem to have made up their minds. Mr Brown’s party has sunk lower in the opinion polls than at any time for more than a quarter of a century. His personal ratings are awful. Tony Blair, pushed out of office to make room for his rival, seems not so bad after all. At least, I have heard ministers mutter disloyally, Mr Blair knew how to win elections.