Love, Labour's Lost: Brown Takes Another One to the Gut

LONDON -- Gordon Brown just can't catch a break. On Friday, in a much-watched "by-election" (special election) in Norwich North, what had been a Labour Party majority of 5,000 votes became a 7,000-vote majority for the Conservatives, representing a 16.5 percent swing. Labour's defeat -- in a seat held comfortably by the party since 1997 -- is the fifth by-election the party has lost to the Tories since Brown took power two years ago.

To say that it's been a bad year for the prime minister is to put it mildly. Things began to sour last summer when the British economy followed suit with the rest of the world and took a major turn south. Some have called it the worst financial crisis in 100 years. And rightly or wrongly, Brown -- who presided over the economy as chancellor of the exchequer for the previous 10 years -- is largely blamed.

Over the course of the past year he has endured not one, but two, challenges to his leadership. While both rebellions were quashed, they left the impression that many in his own cabinet would prefer to see him gone.

Then in May, the parliamentary expenses scandal broke. Dropping a political bomb of cataclysmic proportions, the Daily Telegraph revealed that members of Parliament were doing things like cutting their wisteria and fixing their moats, all on the taxpayers' dime (er, pence). While the scandal implicated all three major political parties, it was Labour -- as the incumbent party -- that bore the heat of public outrage, as reflected in its disastrous showing in the European parliamentary elections in June.

Meanwhile, the cumulative strains were beginning to show on Gordon Brown's face . . . quite literally. In early May, a set of make-up tips for the prime minister were mistakenly left on a train and turned over to the press. By early July, his wife, Sarah Brown, began twittering in earnest about things like the appearance of strawberries in the garden -- a move that was widely viewed as a desperate attempt by Downing Street to shore up her husband's image. (Question: Why are the intelligent and capable wives of prominent politicians always forced to chit-chat about food? I'm thinking Hillary and cookies, Michelle and her garden, etc. Okay, don't answer that.)

Me? I feel kinda sorry for Gordon Brown. He's a smart and serious politician who also seems to be a devoted public servant. But the Brits just hate the guy. After complaining for years that Tony Blair was too slick (read: American) a politician, the British apparently think Brown isn't American enough. Can someone in the British press please come up for a new word for describing Gordon Brown that isn't "dour"? How about "sullen," "dreary" or just plain "glum"?

It certainly doesn't help that every time he turns around, he's being upstaged by Mr. Charisma himself -- Tory leader David Cameron. Cameron even managed recently to out-gay-friendly the prime minister by offering a public apology for section 28, the notorious Conservative-backed legislation that banned the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools. (Can you imagine two politicians in the United States competing to see whose platform was more favorable to homosexuals?)

But regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it's hard to live here and not feel that -- after 12 years with Labour in power -- it's time for a change. Whether Cameron is the right man for the job remains to be seen. Lord knows he has the stomach for it. I just hope that when the dust starts to fly, he's got the right concealer in his make-up bag.