So, Gordon Brown is finished. Over. Gone. His vision is impaired, his plan is in tatters, his friends have deserted him. We have discovered a vacuum where his ideas and his policies should be, and politics abhors a vacuum.

And as talk moves past the laughing stock of a Prime Minister who forced himself upon us and had his wicked way, one name rises above all others. One man is ready to shoulder the burden of Government, to take the Labour Party to its next election – to Boldy Go Fourth.

A man whose name strikes fear into the heart of the Conservative Party. A man who has the strength and the tenacity to be a true leader. A man who can single-handedly lift this Government, and indeed this country, out of its malaise.

Some say, that when the division bell tolls, it tolls just for him; that before saying a word in the House of Commons, Mr Speaker asks his permission; that even the Fees Office wouldn’t dare advise him on his expense claims; and that he’s never been… To Bogna.

All we know is, he’s called Alan Johnson1.

464px-Alan_Johnson_-9Oct2007-2.jpg.jpeg

Image from Wikipedia.

But hang on a minute.

That’s all well and good, and perhaps he is the best man for the job, but haven’t we been here before?

A Labour leader who’s clearly stayed past his welcome, a Labour party absolutely desperate to show unity and commonality of purpose, rather than losing their way amid bickering and in-fighting, a de facto successor whose time has come, waiting in the wings keeping his hands clean?

Sounds eerily familiar, doesn’t it. Sounds, in fact, much like the situation which brought Gordon Brown to power. What’s more, I wouldn’t put it past the Labour Party to do exactly the same thing over again – particularly because no one wants to be left standing when the music stops and a General Election is called – one that the Labour Party can quite easily lose. If Gordon Brown goes, the next leader has under a year to prove themselves and is likely to be forced out after a lost election. Tactically speaking, it would make sense for a would-be leader such as David Milliband or Harriet Harman to hang back, let someone else take the fall, and then step up to the plate to become leader of the opposition.

The one thing this country doesn’t need right now is to have yet another leader appointed, not elected. We mustn’t let Alan Johnson become the heir apparent to the Labour Party throne. Even if he’s the right man for the job, there should be a competition. The more we talk about him as if he’s clearly the only candidate, the less likely it is that he’ll face a contest – and without a contest, he doesn’t have to win an argument about which direction he’d take the country in.

It’s bad enough that we’ve had two full years of a Prime Minister that it looks like we’ll never get to show our true disapproval of at the polls. Don’t let Labour get away with this a second time. Somebody – anybody – needs to make this into a competition.

There needs to be an election.

  1. Just try and hear Handel’s Messiah Chorus in your head while you’re looking at that image, won’t you. Try. [↩]