I have always wondered about the relationship between Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell and Gordon Brown. Why on earth did Tony, who had the power to sack Brown, put up with this maniac for so long? How did an unelected tabloid hack come to have such a Rasputin-like power over the prime minister for so long?
Somebody, who shall remain nameless, explained it to me last night. He said that the problem was that (i) Tony had such shallow roots in the Labour party he felt obligated to Brown who a native-born member of the Labour tribe and that (ii) Tony was a brilliant public face of the party, but basically was incapable of imposing his will on colleagues and therefore was completely dependent on Campbell to do it for him.
This is consistent with the portrayal I've seen in 'The Thick of It' and will explain why Blair repeatedly gave power to people like John Prescott despite any evidence of an ability to run a department or communicate effectively. I suppose most of you are wondering why on earth it has taken me so long to understand this. Well, I have always found it very hard to understand why politicians behave as they do, and, in particular why their observed behaviour is so often at odds with their stated goals.
