Back to Harriet, darkness and despair
The Labour conference seems to have been going on for ever and the dividing line between reality and nightmare is starting to blur. Any benefit the conference might have provided to Labour has already dissipated
UK government crisis
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Gordon Brown is battling to shore up his position after a drubbing in European and local elections and a spate of resignations from his cabinet and government.
PM tries to defuse voucher row
Gordon Brown tells MPs who are against plans to phase out childcare vouchers that the measure is primarily for the next parliament and that his team will ‘listen’ to concerns
Cabinet presses Brown for plebiscite on voting
A group of cabinet ministers is urging Gordon Brown to rush through legislation for a referendum on electoral reform, in an attempt to tie the hands of the next government
Jilted party discovers fighting spirit
The love affair between Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper and the Labour party ended dramatically after The Sun switched its support to the Conservatives
Sun follows the reader in rejecting Labour
The Sun’s decision to end its support for the Labour party after 12 years shows that the paper is following its readers rather than leading them, media watchers have said
PM focuses minds on election
At his keynote Brighton speech Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, did enough to reassure the party that his heart was in the right place and that he was ready for the election fight ahead
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Comment & Analysis
Small change despite call for change
Mr Brown has never learned to tell a story; perhaps that is because he has never really had one
Brown live: ‘Stand, fight, win, serve’
PM concludes well-received speech with delegates on their feet
Brown fights back
The next British election might just turn into a contest. Gordon Brown began his speech with a combative yet uncharacteristically succinct crescendo of the achievements of the past 12 years
Casting around
Britain: Gordon Brown’s launch of a policy document both thin on original ideas and devoid of new money shows he is struggling to adjust to the end of a political and economic era
Department of uncertainty
Whitehall is in despair over its latest crop of ministers, meanwhile Peter Mandelson’s ever-growing empire is causing confusion in the corridors of power, writes Sue Cameron
Cameron sleepwalks towards Europe’s exit
Wrecking the Lisbon treaty would be a declaration of war. The crisis in Britain’s relationship with its partners would precipitate calls for a re-evaluation of its EU membership, writes Philip Stephens
A tectonic shift could shake British politics
Gordon Brown assumes, with most of his party, that the binary Tory-Labour struggle is fixed for good. But they should look to history, writes Richard Reeves
Rebellion quelled – at a price
The past week has seen a scarred Gordon Brown lurch from the row over MPs’ expenses to electoral meltdown
Brown’s fall will mark the end of British radicalism
Cameron has led the Conservative party back to its roots. Labour is now heading down a similar path, writes Robert Shrimsley
Editorial Comment
Immovable object
With the prime minister unable to change certain senior members of his cabinet, it is time for Alastair Darling to begin a new spending review
Brown’s vestigial authority on wane
Gordon Brown has a slim chance to assert his authority and restore some backbone to his invertebrate party. If he fails, the voters have the right to choose their new government at a general election
Time runs out for Gordon Brown
The stench of fin de siécle surrounds Mr Brown. When in a similar situation, John Major submitted himself to a “back me or sack me” leadership contest. The current prime minister should do the same
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