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Gordon Brown: Too Different From Blair...and Too Similar

Poor old Gordon Brown. You might expect that the British people would've grown a little wary of "charisma" and "personality" in recent years, and that they'd welcome Brown's overdue ascent, given that he's an eminently qualified politician who lacks only the sheen of his boss/colleague/nemesis, Tony Blair. But no.

The 55-year-old Scot won plaudits from Labour politicians for his speech to the party's annual conference, but may find it hard to attract the middle class, which Blair managed to win over to Labour in 1997 -- the first of his three election victories.

Polls show many voters think David Cameron, youthful leader of the Conservatives, is more likeable and would make a better premier than Brown, who lacks Blair's charisma. ...

Labour's standing has been damaged by feuding this month that forced Blair to say he would quit within a year and sparked fierce attacks on Brown's character. ...

John Curtice, politics professor at Strathclyde University, described Brown's speech as the "most Blairite" speech he had made. He said this may disappoint voters looking for a break with the Blair years.

The speech will not dispel concern about Brown's personality, Curtice told Reuters. "The public are not suddenly going to find Gordon Brown a wonderful, happy, attractive character," he said.

Okay, so voters hold it against Brown that he lacks Blair's flash; and that he's politically "Blairite." Blair is the guy who pretty much single-handedly dragged the country into a war a majority of the British people opposed and there is concern over Brown's character? So this is the famous British irony?

Posted by Julian Brookes on 09/25/06 at 12:37 PM | E-mail | Print | Digg | de.licio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Yahoo! MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Netscape | Google |