Brown's Anatomy

Well, finally Gordon Brown has the top job that he's always wanted. And where Tony Blair strove to paint his opening weeks and months at number 10 in red, white and blue in the spirit of Cool Britannia, I suspect Brown will adopt a not so colourful persona, one which is decidedly more grey. Greyest of the grey infact, if his opening speech to the Labour Party as their leader is anything to go by. And where many will despair at such a drab political scene to come, I see it as a sensible approach for our new PM. (Of course, some would argue that a man who apparently lacks charisma and spark has no choice in the matter!)

Personally, I think David Cameron must be trembling in his headline-grabbing cycling shoes round about now. Here comes a very dull but immensely capable Prime Minister who can wipe the damaging Tony Blair slate clean and slowly, deliberately correct areas of the UK that he has had 10 years to think about. Cameron will want to raise black and white issues and paint extremes when really a murkier grey actually applies. Brown will pull the argument into the mud with detail and heavy-handed analysis that people will believe and Cameron doesn't have the attention span to deal with.

Journalists too will be waiting for the 'big announcements' so they can release their screaming front pages in their colourful language. The fireworks and dancing bears are primed and ready as they wait for the next big story of the day. It may well be best for Britain if they wait in vain and Gordon Brown uses those clunking fists to knuckle down and just do all the boring things that need getting done in this country.

Sorting out the NHS by calmly maintaining resources while getting all the basics right, sorting out a fair and appropriate sentencing programme in the courts, sorting out Iraq/(Afghanistan) by resolutely staying the course and finishing what we shouldn't have started with a bigger ally base, sorting out the housing shortage in the UK, sorting out the absolute shambles that is travelling by train and crucially maintaining a strong economy without letting exchange rates creep up too high.

None of the above if done correctly will make for a journalists wishes coming true, nor will it please David Cameron in his quest for scrabbling around for headlines.

It's dull work that Brown has before him, slow and tedious at times, but highly necessary. Gordon Brown is one of those rare people who has the intensity and capability to drive all of these areas forward without cracking and falling back on easy headline-grabbing initiatives. Much like how many of us (particularly non-bloggers I would imagine to be fair!) strive to be interested in the serious issues of the day and yet get sucked into celebrity culture and instant excitement.

So, given all of the above, the recent poll that had Labour 8 points ahead and a fairly seamless transition from one Labour PM to another, it seems that somewhere over the June 27th rainbow, skies are going to be grey.