It is extraordinary that after barely two years we are in a similar crisis of leadership in the Labour Government to what we saw in the later years of the Conservative Government.
It brings back painful memories to me, as I was a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee which governed Party leadership elections. I was one of the “men in grey suits” – although we had women in the Executive and I rarely wore grey! Our task was to let the Prime Minister know the mood of backbenchers and views about issues of the day. It also had the ultimate role of telling the PM when his or her time was up.
It was a useful sounding board for Prime Ministers, and perhaps Sir Keir has lacked that safe place, that safety valve, to engage with his Parliamentary team. However, our advice to the Prime Minister was not always heeded. I recall when I challenged Prime Minister Cameron about his plan to further liberalise Sunday trading and warned him that he would lose a vote. It ended up being the biggest rebellion of his Premiership on a 3 line whip and, like Prime Minister Thatcher who had a bigger majority, he lost the vote.
Leadership: Abroad and at home
Leadership abroadI have been reading about a huge war and invasion, involving leaders in Iran and other Middle East …