25th September 2010
As Gordon Brown sat in a darkened corner of the packed conference room, he felt truly out in the political wilderness, for the first time in over twenty years. Far in the distance a mixture of blurs were deciding on just who would succeed him as Labour leader and Prime Minister. He had no say in the matter.
The weeks and months following the election had been a mixture of terrifying chaos and euphoric calmness. The new cabinet had been difficult to fully install and had seen a lot of rising stars face a career halt. People like Ed Miliband had been forced back to a small ministerial position; a man who Gordon thought could have been a real uniting leadership candidate had they lost the election. Unfortunately for Ed, fate decried that Labour was to carry on, but without him as Secretary of State. Party Policy Coordinator would have to do for now.
His brother had of course held on at the Foreign Office, as had Alistair at the Treasury and Jack at the Justice Department. Peter and Alan however, also bid their farewells, at least to the cabinet. Nevertheless Gordon had kept things stable and coordinated the transferals of power as smoothly as possible.
It was strange, the whole four months he had left as Prime Minister following the coalition agreement had been – at least to him - some of his finest. The establishment of the new government was a historic step in British politics, forming the first peacetime coalition since the Second World War, and arguably the most Progressive of all time. The mix of Labour and Liberal ministers, including three Secretaries of State and a Deputy Prime Minister had been unseen since the days of David Lloyd George and echoed the dreams of Paddy Ashdown and Tony Blair nearly fourteen years before.
Finally, the true progressives of Britain were in government together again, a complete re-alignment was just around the corner.
Once the issue of the actual coalition agreements were settled the real work began. Alistair, Vince, Ed and David were straight to work dealing with Euro crisis and getting the economy back on track. Some moderate compromises had to be made but other than that the policy remained the same, and real progress was being made.
The referendum date had been set for the first Thursday of October and campaigning had already begun. Labour was more or less united on the issue, though some on the left – and right – voiced their opposition, nevertheless the odd whip around soon silenced many, at least in public.
All in all Gordon was pleased with what he had done. He had governed as best he could for three years and passed on the baton as honourably and statesmen-like as possible. He would be leaving for the palace in two days’ time; it had been a very long journey. Tony had called him the night before and had personally congratulated him on his handling of the crisis and establishment of the coalition, it must have been the first time they had really spoken for two years.
As his thoughts returned to the world around him, he realized it was alive with deafening cheers and clapping. He quickly got his feet and joined in, straining his eyes to pick out his successor. Ed? Andy? David? Harriet? Alistair? Christ Diane?! His mind was racing, trying to find the most likely candidate.
A tap on the arm quickly caught his attention. He spun around and saw Neil still walking up the corridor, the old man grinning from ear to ear.
“He’ll do well lad,” he said now turning back towards. “steady, sensible leadership without all the nonsense. Just like…” his words drifted off into the crowd.
He turned back towards and saw the new leader of the Labour Party. The tall, white haired man with bushy eyebrows and a modest Scottish accent stood at the podium and began the most important speech of his life.