Our community reporter Spring Heeled Jack has written a series of short articles which we will share over the next few weeks.
Here is the latest installment of Hard Times.
A rudderless ship
The general perception of Brown and Darling was that of the Captain and First Mate of the Titanic, shuffling the deckchairs around whilst the boat (Great Britain PLC) was sinking fast.
In addition, the electorate lost confidence in the party who some felt had really failed badly to deal with crucial economic matters, whilst wringing their hands, wondering what to do about the entire situation.
Fresh beginnings
The general election was called by Gordon Brown and the outcome was inevitable because political and economic uncertainty had dogged Britain for three years with the country also in deep recession.
Labour did not have enough MPs to form a government following the general election result and for the first time since 1979, a coalition government would have to be installed.
The main players were Gordon Brown (Labour leader), David Cameron (Conservative party leader), and Nick Clegg (Liberal Democratic party leader).
One of the key issues and difficulties was that Gordon Brown was felt to be an inflexible character, who would force through his ideas and policies in an autocratic way.
Nick Clegg was at that time advised and previously mentored by the former Liberal Democrat party leader Paddy Ashdown.
Clegg was advised by Ashdown to have no dealings with Brown and to look at a coalition partnership with David Cameron, who appeared to have a more flexible approach to policy matters.
The coalition partnership was quickly established with the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Leaders holding an introductory press conference in the gardens at 10 Downing Street.
Meanwhile, Brown gave his valedictory speech then left 10 Downing Street as the unelected former Prime Minister and Labour leader who had lost a general election.
Ongoing economic problems
One of the outgoing Labour party ministers, Liam Byrne made a foolish statement by leaving a letter to the new administration by writing that there was no money left and that the cupboard was bare.
This message later came back to haunt Liam Byrne who had to make repeated apologies for this very short sighted comment.
Article submitted by Spring Heeled Jack.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not the Digital Sentinel.
