Labour party conference 2008 The rest of the world is talking about global financial meltdown. The Labour party is talking about rules for issuing nomination papers for a leadership election. It is an abysmal misjudgment of the public mood. Both rebels and those loyal to Gordon Brown should beware: if voters’ patience with political infighting is stretched too far, they will punish all the participants.
Of course the question who should lead one of the UK’s main parties is an important one. Self-evidently it is much more so when that party is in power and its leader the prime minister. But what is missing from the current swirl of rumour and revolt is much sense that effective governance – or even Labour’s political direction – is the point at issue. Instead, the primary concern seems to be the party’s fate at the next general election.
