[Nuclear1]

http://www.france24.com/en/20080921-uk-gordon-brown-labour-conference-party-leadership&navi=EUROPE

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, battling internal opposition at his Labour Party's annual conference, said he "wanted to do better", but also that he had no intention of conceding the party's leadership.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted Sunday he could do better as he bids to fend off rebels opposed to his leadership at his ruling Labour Party's annual conference.
   
But he added voters would not forgive him and his government if it decided to "bail out" of tackling the current economic uncertainty following a week of extraordinary events on world money markets.

What are the Brits opinion of this?  Apparently polls say he's either the least popular or one of the least popular PMs since Chamberlain, so what does this mean for his political future?

[blackhole]

It didn't stop bush.

[Nuclear1]

US Presidential elections differ slightly from those of the British PM.

[Galemp]

IIRC, the Prime Minister is the leader of whatever party is elected to the Government at the time, and is not elected on their own merits but on the basis of their high standing within the party that was elected.

[Mars]

Has there just been a spat in the last two decades of people voting for the wrong party at the wrong time?

[karajorma]

IIRC, the Prime Minister is the leader of whatever party is elected to the Government at the time, and is not elected on their own merits but on the basis of their high standing within the party that was elected.

Basically yes. He must also be a sitting member of parliament IIRC but they always make sure that the leader is given a very safe constituency so unless he cocks up spectacularly he's unlikely to fail that way.

It has often been said that Labour won the last election despite Tony Blair, not because of him.


Gordon Brown's future looks rather rocky at the moment but Labour would do well to remember the example of John Major. He too took over after a hugely unpopular PM resigned and was then repeatedly stabbed in the back by his own party until they ended up dragging themselves into such a mess that they were unelectable for over 10 years.

[Akalabeth Angel]

IIRC, the Prime Minister is the leader of whatever party is elected to the Government at the time, and is not elected on their own merits but on the basis of their high standing within the party that was elected.

Basically yes. He must also be a sitting member of parliament IIRC but they always make sure that the leader is given a very safe constituency so unless he cocks up spectacularly he's unlikely to fail that way.

     I don't know about the UK, but in Canada, even if the leader fails to win their bid in whatever riding they're running in, usually another MP from their party will step aside to give the leader their seat.

[Al Tarket]

"So, Gordon Brown..." - Title Topic.

...Doesn't have a clue.

Gordon has lost the confidence of his labour party, Tony Blair is doing everything he can to help Gordan brown and it's clear it is not enough. who put this guy in charge of the United Kingdom anyway? the poor people in the United Kingdom will have to suffer a few months worth of stupidity with this man.

[Wobble73]

"So, Gordon Brown..." - Title Topic.

...Doesn't have a clue.

Gordon has lost the confidence of his labour party, Tony Blair is doing everything he can to help Gordan brown and it's clear it is not enough. who put this guy in charge of the United Kingdom anyway? the poor people in the United Kingdom will have to suffer a few months worth of stupidity with this man.

I believe there was an un-spoken/un-written agreement between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, that Gordon would take over leadership of the Labour Party (and therefore become Prime Minister) once Tony stepped down as long as Gordon supported Tony during his time as Prime Minister.

[karajorma]

the poor people in the United Kingdom will have to suffer a few months worth of stupidity with this man.

Well that's the irony. He's not done anything particularly stupid. Certainly nothing as bad as Tony Blair did. About the only thing you can directly lay at his feet is the whole debacle over the 10p tax rate and that was something he brought in as Chancellor not PM.

Which is why I drew parallels to John Major. It wasn't so much the bad decisions that Major made which brought him down so much as the fact that the other members of his own party smelled blood in the water and constantly attacked him.

I'm no fan of Gordon Brown. In fact I think the wanker should be set on fire and thrown out of a moving train into a brick wall for even contemplating bringing in the 42 day detention law. But I can't honestly see anything he's done to make him less popular than Blair.

[BlackDove]

I think everyone in this thread would do a better job than Gordon Brown.

[Flipside]

Gordon Brown, texture like sun
In the ground, our finances run...
Throughout the night
Governs like ****e.
Always a frown
With Gordon Brown.

[Stormkeeper]

I have a question. How many of you saw 'Gordon' and immediately thought 'Gordon Freeman'? Because I did.

[Al Tarket]

some how i knew that question was going to come up sooner or later!

however...  , don't ever compare mr freeman with mr brown. You Heretic!

for one thing Mr Freeman can keep his mouth shut, what more do you need, and really i don't want to see a mr brown/Carth Onasi type constantly talking crap and not making any difference in the long run.

[Stormkeeper]

mr brown/Carth Onasi type constantly talking crap and not making any difference in the long run.

But sadly true.

[Mars]

I think everyone in this thread would do a better job than Gordon Brown.

Coming from you, that's really terrifying.

I believe that scale puts me somewhere above Gordon Brown and somewhere below your average jelly fish.

[captain-custard]

Gordon Brown, texture like sun
In the ground, our finances run...
Throughout the night
Governs like ****e.
Always a frown
With Gordon Brown.

that is a classic but who is tied to the mast?

[Flipside]

I wish Mosley had been a politican...

Then again, I could just change the line itself:

Every tax, just like the last,
Bent over...

...Actually, no...

[BlackDove]

I think everyone in this thread would do a better job than Gordon Brown.

Coming from you, that's really terrifying.

I believe that scale puts me somewhere above Gordon Brown and somewhere below your average jelly fish.

lrn2sarcasm

[Nuclear1]

how do I learned sarcasm?