Clarke, of course, then formed a Coalition with Ashdown's Liberal Democrats. That didn't surprise me much. I could never imagine Ashdown having a joint press conference with Kinnock outside 10 Downing Street.
Then, of course, Peter Mandelson became Labour Leader after a heated contest with Gordon Brown. Brown won both the MPs/MEPs and affiliated sections, but Mandelson won easily among rank-and-file party members.
I remember that AV referendum campaign in 1998 as if it were yesterday. Mandelson encouraging a "Yes" vote to punish Clarke and the Tories. Brown, Prescott, and Blunkett encouraged a "No" vote as they believed that it might end the Coalition. The "No" campaign was victorious in the end, though only by a slim margin (50.4% to 49.6%).
Ken Clarke mantained his personal popularity, but the government itself became highly unpopular in the middle of it's term, mainly due to divisions and several personal scandals. Several more Tory right-wingers, unhappy with the government's pro-EU stance and it's Keynesian approach to the economy, defected to UKIP in 1999.