Gillian Duffy: Gordon’s moment of madness could seal his election fate
By Paul Roberts
www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk
One of the most memorable posters of the Second World War warned that ‘loose talk costs lives’. Sixty five years later a poster featuring Gordon Brown could well carry the words: ‘Loose talk loses elections’.
One silly comment from the Prime Minister could well seal his – and Labour’s – fate in the 2010 General Election. Already, it is overshadowing the run-up to the final Leaders’ Debate on the BBC tonight (8.30pm, April 28).
Mr Brown’s political and personal credibility has been shaken to the core after his infamous chat with Rochdale pensioner Gillian Duffy. In an unguarded moment after his meeting with her, he called her a ‘bigoted woman’.
In one dramatic moment that will haunt him for the rest of his days, he did more to wreck his election hopes than either David Cameron or Nick Clegg could have achieved in a month of Sundays. Mr Brown pushed the self-destruct button.
Just how could this have happened? Mrs. Duffy, a life-long Labour supporter, indicated she would vote for the party, despite her reservations about doing so. She talked to him about everyday matters important to the people of Rochdale.
She mentioned immigration and the numbers of people from Eastern Europe flocking to her area. She talked about her family, her 30 years as a councillor in the area. Mrs Duffy was an ordinary person, with ordinary concerns having an ordinary conversation with Mr Brown.
He committed the classic error of not listening to Mrs Duffy. His body language made it perfectly clear that he wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible. He called the meeting a ‘disaster’ and wished he had not spoken to ‘that woman’.
If he had bothered to really listen to what she had said and responded in a positive way, his meeting with Mrs Duffy could have been a triumph for him. Instead, he turned an opportunity to prove himself as a ‘man of the people’ into a moment of madness.
His apology to Mrs Duffy made things worse for his prospects. Although I have no doubt he was truly sorry for what he said, his ‘sorry’ speech outside Mrs Duffy’s home was clumsy and sounded less than sincere.
Mr Brown is now regarded as aloof, out of touch and disrespectful to his supporters and the elderly. You only had to listen to the people of Rochdale on BBC Five Live today (April 28) to gauge the level of feeling against the Prime Minister.
In recent weeks he has put himself forward as the best man to lead us out of the economic recession and as a champion of social care reform. His reputation has been seriously – and probably irreparably – damaged among the many who regard him as a decent, honest man.
Here’s the problem for Mr Brown: How can anyone trust what he says when he espouses nice things to Mrs Duffy and then describes her as ‘bigoted’ behind her back? How can he win the trust and loyalty of voters after such a disastrous episode?
We are almost certainly seeing the end of Gordon Brown’s tenure at 10 Downing Street, even if Labour emerge as favourites to lead a ‘hung’ or coalition government. Sadly, he only has himself to blame.
May 7th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Brilliant post, keep up the good work.