Nobody said that being Prime Minister was an easy task, but what Gordon Brown has endured in his first month at the helm has been tough by anyone’s standards. In fact, it would be tricky to come up with a set of problems more daunting for a new PM to deal with. MSN takes a look at how Brown has shaped up during this baptism of fire.
When Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair, it heralded the start of a new political era. Blair’s reign will probably be remembered primarily for the Iraq war and secondly for spin. But, despite coming from the same Labour party, Brown was sending out signals that the wind of change was upon us and that his government would be one occupied with policy rather than pre-occupied with image. Brown appeared to want to get on with governing the country – he wasn’t in the job simply to be in the limelight that goes hand in hand with the PM role.
Prominent public figure
It was a refreshing and very welcome message and one that Brown really did look like he meant. Unfortunately, external factors have meant that Brown has had to be a more prominent public figure than perhaps he had intended.
He’d barely been in Downing Street for five minutes when terrorists tried unsuccessfully to detonate car bombs in central London. Then, hot on the heels of the failed bombings, came another terror attack, this time at Glasgow airport. It was clear from that moment on that Brown would not be granted any time to feel his way into the top job.
He dealt with the crisis in his own way and his own style, which was very different to his predecessor’s. There was a need to reassure the nation and to urge people not to panic – and that was just what Brown did. He didn’t fill his few public statements with emotional soundbites, he just calmly responded to a highly delicate situation. The ‘war on terror’ wasn’t mentioned and Brown ensured he didn’t overreact and make promises about how the threat would be dealt with. In short, he did just enough. It was an understated response, but achieved everything it was intended to and, most importantly, he didn’t abuse it as an opportunity to boost his profile and popularity. He simply dealt with the situation he found before him and then got on with his job.
Sign of things to come
Another telling sign of things to come from Prime Minister Gordon Brown was the way that, in the wake of the terror attacks, he allowed his new home secretary Jacqui Smith to handle the situation in her own way. It falls under her remit and he didn’t feel the need to wade in and take over. The faith he’s placing in his ministers shows the confidence he has in the people he’s chosen.
Just as things were starting to settle down, Brown learned that, as PM, when it rains, it pours. With the summer already proving to be a wash-out, the UK was hit by flooding so severe that it claimed a number of lives and devastated thousands more. Rivers burst their banks, streets and homes were knee-deep in water and fresh water was unavailable in some areas. It was a crisis on a large scale, but once again, Brown didn’t panic, he just did what he could to help. He wasn’t over-dramatic in his response, but he praised those who’d been involved with helping and rescuing others and visited the worst hit areas to personally thank those who deserved it. If the two episodes are an indication of what’s to come, we can expect Brown to give measured responses when faced with adversity. There certainly won’t be any theatre.
Thank David Cameron
Brown has emerged from both major incidents of his brief stint as PM with a great deal of credibility. He also seems to have somehow escaped unscathed from revelations about cabinet ministers smoking cannabis. It’s been a testing time and he’s had to show what he’s made of early on. He can’t take all the credit for that himself, though. He can thank opposition leader David Cameron for making him look good during the flooding crisis. Whether Cameron’s trip to Rwanda was right or wrong is open to debate, but his absence at a time when his constituents were in a crisis made Brown’s presence and assured demeanour seem all the more admirable.
Brown has steered the country through a summer with almost non-stop rain, terror attacks and flooding, but without an Ashes victory or a World Cup to lift our spirits. It’s no mean feat, particularly so early in his fledgling career as PM. At the moment, initial doubts over his suitability for the role as leader of the country seem unfounded. He appears to be cut out for the role and he’s unlikely to go through many months quite as testing as his first.
