Gordon Brown

Anyone wanting to analyse the performance of Gordon Brown over his first hundred days as Prime Minister could do worse than look at the recent form of his beloved football team, Raith Rovers, currently grappling for the top spot in the Scottish Second Division.

The Kirkcaldy side have managed a good set of wins so far this season, but have also lost out to weaker opposition more than once. Crucially they’ve have shown ample amounts of courage (the Brown watchword) to climb up the table.

Raith’s campaign is analogous with the big tests that Brown has faced during his hundred-day premiership. The near miss terrorist attacks, the return of the foot-and-mouth crisis and the extensive flooding over the summer, all put great amounts of pressure on the new PM.

Yet despite such tests, Brown has come off well. Martin Bright, political editor of the New Statesman, saw his actions on these issues as ‘decisive’ and claimed that as PM, ‘Brown has surprised many people, including those in his own party who did not believe he had it in him.’

For Raith Rovers, the continuation of their winning streak will give them a fighting chance of promotion. However, with Brown now PM, it is difficult for him to get any higher. The only way from here will be down, and such relegation is dependent on the swift counter-attacking of the British media.

The most decisive victory for Brown has been to avoid the wrath of the Daily Mail: the newspaper many in the New Labour hierarchy believe hold the key to influencing the next election’s outcome. The Mail’s columnist Andrew Alexander on 7th September praised Brown’s appointment of Tory and Lib Dem MPs to act as government advisors as ‘shrewd’, claiming that the appointments ‘have added to the Prime Minister's authority as a national leader’. Such statements by columnists of traditionally hostile publications will do great things for the Brown fighting spirit.

Add to this Brown’s appearance with Mrs. Thatcher outside No. 10 on 13th September (a move akin to stealing the rival team’s mascot and parading around it before a match) and his conference message that 'I will stand up for British values' (practically a Tory terrace chant), and Brown and his squad look like they may have a chance of netting that trophy they desperately want: the votes of Middle England.

http://www.newstatesman.com/200710040057

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=480387&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=248

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/i+will+stand+up+for+british+values/840947

Self Reflective Essay

We were given a brief to write an analysis of Gordon Brown’s first one hundred days as Prime Minister. We had been told about trying to find a quirky angle to centre such a piece around. My initial thought was to try and write something about Brown’s Scottish-ness, as it something we both share. However, after a little research I realised that there was already a huge amount of reporting and opinion centring around the Prime Minister’s nationality and his relationship to his home nation, so I thought I would avoid that.

After having a quick look to see how my local football team was performing, I glanced across the rest of the Scottish Divisions and noticed that the team beloved of Mr. Brown, Raith Rovers, were riding high in the Scottish Second Division. I thought it might be interesting to use Raith’s form in the analysis.

Overall, the reports of Brown’s first hundred days in office were positive. I had read an article in the New Statesman on the performance of the Brown, which I quoted from, and also used the extensive resources on the BBC website, including Nick Robinson’s blog and numerous archive stories and fact features on Brown’s background, to research more about Brown and opinion on him.

When writing the piece I felt it was important to see how Brown was being received in the Daily Mail, as much had been written about his desire to be friendly terms with that paper. I looked through the Mail’s online archive to find opinion pieces and found a good example in a contemporary column by Andrew Alexander, which I used in my piece.