According to newspaper reports, Gordon Brown has only got two things right over the last nine months. That is not a good track record for a prime minister, and especially not when he was used to having an almost cult status as Chancellor of the Exchequer having made British Economy one of the best in the world.

The first right thing Mr. Brown did, was to bring back Peter Mandelson. The second was landing the G20 summit and almost living up to the expectations set by himself. This could have been enough give Mr. Brown only the recession to wrestle with over the next few months, but then the Damien McBride affair came up. Or Smeargate. This has the capacity to de-stabilise Gordon Brown in a way that could see a new Labour going into the next election with a new leader.

Would that be so bad? No. Gordon Brown is not a good leader. He was god as second-in-command. He shone in the shadow of Tony Blair, he really did. But having the spotlight to himself has done him no favours, nor the country. It wouldn’t be right to put all the blame for the sorry state of the nation on Gordon Brown, but he carries a great deal of responsibility. He rode the good waves as Chancellor, failing to put restrictions on  the banking business in place, and failed to see the warning signs. As prime minister, he simply acted too late.