Gordon Brown has become prime minister with less seeming to be known about him, and what he thinks and believes, than almost any other holder of the office. As chancellor, he showed an exceptionally narrow concern with his brief and usually disclosed an opinion on anything outside it only if absolutely forced to. As a result many unanswered questions circulate around him. What is he for? Why was he elected? Is he expected to be different from his predecessor? More 'left-wing'? More Old Labour? The fact that he kept his cards so close to his chest encouraged many to hope that once his own man, he would somehow liberate himself from the more dogmatic excesses of New Labour. (I had hoped - forlornly - that he might try to save comprehensive schools.) Even as prime minister, he keeps his cards chestwards. His reaction to the prison officers' and the London Underground strikes was characteristic. He saw in them only inflationary wage claims, and didn't appear to give a thought to the wider context - to the horror of working in British prisons, on the one hand, and to the failure of the private management of London Underground maintenance, on the other - for which in both cases he shares (or bears) the responsibility. Yet there is already enough on record - and more than enough from his chancellorship - to suggest what kind of politician he is.

LRB 4 October 2007 | PDF Download